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2025 County Report

Fires in Lapeer County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Lapeer County responded to 798 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.4M property loss.

21,880 residents FIPS 26087 23 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
798
3,642 across 5 years
Building fires
166
35 wildland
Property loss
$7.1M
$4.6M structure · $2.5M contents
Casualties
2 / 6
2 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

798
Total Incidents
Building fires 166 20.8%
Power line down 148 18.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 56 7.0%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 53 6.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 46 5.8%
All other categories 329 41.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lapeer County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 64
Feb 47
Mar 109
Apr 86
May 66
Jun 68
Jul 64
Aug 71
Sep 43
Oct 59
Nov 69
Dec 52
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lapeer County

3,642 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 731
2022 744
2023 610
2024 759
2025 798
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 166 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
57%
80
Cause undetermined
11%
15
Intentional / arson
6%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
8
Under investigation
14%
20
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lapeer County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 65% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,400,000 Dryden Building fires Major
2 $220,000 Columbiaville Building fires Significant
3 $218,500 Columbiaville Building fires Significant
4 $207,000 Lapeer Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 Lapeer Building fires Significant
6 $200,000 Metamora Building fires Significant
7 $163,900 Metamora Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $150,000 LAPEER Building fires Significant
9 $125,000 Lapeer Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
10 $100,000 Lapeer Building fires Significant
06 How Lapeer County compares

Lapeer County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

36.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lapeer County
36.47
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
7.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lapeer County
7.59
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
91.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lapeer County
91.4
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lapeer County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26087.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lapeer County

12 departments report from this county.

Almont FD
Almont
FDID 04401 107 incidents
Imlay City
Imlay City
FDID 04409 73 incidents
Elba Twp Fire Dept
Lapeer
FDID 04407 50 incidents
METAMORA TWP FIRE DEPT
METAMORA
FDID 04412 50 incidents
Deerfield Township FireRescue
North Branch
FDID 04415 39 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MI

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Brittle 2021 USFS 5,666
2 21-SLBE Lasso Loop burn 2021 NPS 577
3 21-SLBE Peterson 2021 NPS 512
4 21-SLBE Otter Creek burn 2021 NPS 506
5 Horn 2021 NPS 485
6 Unhappy Camper 2015 USFS 471
7 21-SLBE Bass Lake burn 2021 NPS 405
8 Good Harbor Trail RX 2023 NPS 342
9 Summit Lake 2024 USFS 327
10 MISNR-FY19-RX-Red Pine Natural Area 2019 FWS 172

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.