Home› Counties› MI› Midland County
2025 County Report

Fires in Midland County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Midland County responded to 1,048 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $800K property loss.

44,173 residents FIPS 26111 24 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
1,048
4,963 across 5 years
Building fires
71
88 wildland
Property loss
$4.6M
$3.4M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
2 / 7
2 civ deaths · 6 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 63% of all calls.

1,048
Total Incidents
Power line down 292 27.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 145 13.8%
Hazardous condition, other 98 9.4%
Building fires 71 6.8%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 49 4.7%
All other categories 393 37.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Midland County?

Dec peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 67
Feb 47
Mar 105
Apr 126
May 102
Jun 103
Jul 83
Aug 75
Sep 69
Oct 68
Nov 74
Dec 129
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Midland County

4,963 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,182
2022 833
2023 766
2024 1,134
2025 1,048
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 71 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
52%
83
Cause undetermined
24%
38
Intentional / arson
6%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
15
Under investigation
4%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Midland County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 68% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $800,000 Midland Building fires Major
2 $245,000 Sanford Building fires Significant
3 $210,000 Midland Building fires Significant
4 $180,000 Midland Building fires Significant
5 $180,000 Hope Building fires Significant
6 $175,000 Coleman Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 Sanford Building fires Significant
8 $130,000 Freelandf Building fires Significant
9 $129,000 Sanford Building fires Significant
10 $120,000 Midland Building fires Significant
06 How Midland County compares

Midland County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.72
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Midland County
23.72
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
1.61
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Midland County
1.61
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
45.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Midland County
45.3
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Midland County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26111.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Midland County

7 departments report from this county.

Midland FD
Midland
FDID 05606 534 incidents 46 paid
Jerome Township FD
Sanford
FDID 05604 147 incidents
Larkin Township FD
Midland
FDID 05605 71 incidents
Midland Township FD
Midland
FDID 05607 54 incidents
Homer Township FD
Midland
FDID 05603 42 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.