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2025 County Report

Fires in Montcalm County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Montcalm County responded to 614 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $800K property loss.

18,147 residents FIPS 26117 28 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
614
3,695 across 5 years
Building fires
110
65 wildland
Property loss
$4.4M
$3.0M structure · $1.4M contents
Casualties
0 / 6
0 civ deaths · 4 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 58% of all calls.

614
Total Incidents
Power line down 140 22.8%
Building fires 110 17.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 38 6.2%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 33 5.4%
Grass fire 32 5.2%
All other categories 261 42.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Montcalm County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 53
Feb 42
Mar 119
Apr 99
May 54
Jun 56
Jul 54
Aug 43
Sep 22
Oct 17
Nov 28
Dec 27
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Montcalm County

3,695 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 748
2022 690
2023 882
2024 761
2025 614
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 110 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
59%
58
Cause undetermined
18%
18
Intentional / arson
5%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
8
Under investigation
8%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Montcalm County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $800,000 Lakeview Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Stanton Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Trufant Building fires Major
4 $200,000 Greenville Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 LAKEVIEW Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 Greenville Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Howard City Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Greenville Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $100,000 Trufant Building fires Significant
10 $80,000 Crystal Building fires Significant
06 How Montcalm County compares

Montcalm County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

33.83
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Montcalm County
33.83
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
6.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Montcalm County
6.06
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Montcalm County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Montcalm County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26117.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Montcalm County

10 departments report from this county.

Greenville DPS
Greenville
FDID 05907 75 incidents 19 paid
Lakeview District FD
Lakeview
FDID 05909 62 incidents 18 vol
Sheridan Community FD
Sheridan
FDID 05912 57 incidents
Montcalm Twp Fire Dept
Greenville
FDID 05915 52 incidents 1 paid
HOME TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
EDMORE
FDID 05906 45 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.