Home› Counties› MI› Manistee County
2025 County Report

Fires in Manistee County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Manistee County responded to 252 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

9,854 residents FIPS 26101 26 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
252
1,135 across 5 years
Building fires
36
13 wildland
Property loss
$1.0M
$781K structure · $262K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

252
Total Incidents
Power line down 100 39.7%
Building fires 36 14.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 16 6.3%
Fire, other 10 4.0%
Cooking fire, confined to container 10 4.0%
All other categories 80 31.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Manistee County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 15
Feb 25
Mar 28
Apr 24
May 27
Jun 16
Jul 19
Aug 17
Sep 16
Oct 11
Nov 27
Dec 27
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Manistee County

1,135 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 270
2022 222
2023 198
2024 193
2025 252
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 36 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
28%
7
Cause undetermined
28%
7
Intentional / arson
8%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
24%
6
Under investigation
12%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $743K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Manistee County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Onekama Building fires Major
2 $150,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
3 $75,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
4 $75,000 Wellston Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $60,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
6 $50,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 Manistee Building fires Significant
9 $16,500 manistee Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant
10 $16,000 Manistee Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Manistee County compares

Manistee County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

25.57
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Manistee County
25.57
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
3.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Manistee County
3.65
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Manistee County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Manistee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26101.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Manistee County

11 departments report from this county.

Manistee FD
Manistee
FDID 05105 90 incidents 9 paid
Norman Township FD
Wellston
FDID 05108 37 incidents
Filer Township FD
Manistee
FDID 05104 21 incidents
Arcadia Township FD
Arcadia
FDID 05112 21 incidents 20 vol
CleonCopemish FD
Copemish
FDID 05102 17 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.