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2025 County Report

Fires in Mecosta County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Mecosta County responded to 570 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $88K property loss.

12,462 residents FIPS 26107 18 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
570
2,572 across 5 years
Building fires
94
72 wildland
Property loss
$776K
$563K structure · $213K contents
Casualties
1 / 3
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.

570
Total Incidents
Power line down 151 26.5%
Building fires 94 16.5%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 52 9.1%
Carbon monoxide incident 28 4.9%
Grass fire 26 4.6%
All other categories 219 38.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mecosta County?

Dec peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 17
Feb 45
Mar 64
Apr 47
May 52
Jun 43
Jul 45
Aug 53
Sep 38
Oct 26
Nov 31
Dec 109
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Mecosta County

2,572 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 476
2022 482
2023 530
2024 514
2025 570
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 94 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
41
Cause undetermined
20%
22
Intentional / arson
14%
15
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
14
Under investigation
10%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $446K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Mecosta County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 79% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $88,000 BIG RAPIDS Building fires Significant
2 $75,000 Big Rapids Building fires Significant
3 $60,000 Morley Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $50,000 STANWOOD Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 STANWOOD Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $35,000 Morley Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
7 $30,000 BIG RAPIDS Grass fire Significant
8 $28,000 Big Rapids Building fires Significant
9 $20,000 BIG RAPIDS 49307 Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $20,000 STANWOOD Building fires Significant
06 How Mecosta County compares

Mecosta County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

45.74
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mecosta County
45.74
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
7.54
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mecosta County
7.54
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
80.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mecosta County
80.2
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mecosta County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26107.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Mecosta County

6 departments report from this county.

Big Rapids DPS
Big Rapids
FDID 05402 237 incidents 9 paid
Mecosta Twp Fire Rescue
Stanwood
FDID 05407 85 incidents
ChippewaMartiny Fire Dept
Chippewa Lake
FDID 05403 60 incidents
COLFAX TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
BIG RAPIDS
FDID 05410 56 incidents
Morton Twp Fire Rescue
Mecosta
FDID 05404 55 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.