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2025 County Report

Fires in Newaygo County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Newaygo County responded to 457 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

9,512 residents FIPS 26123 26 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
457
2,440 across 5 years
Building fires
139
63 wildland
Property loss
$2.2M
$1.5M structure · $746K contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

457
Total Incidents
Building fires 139 30.4%
Power line down 107 23.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 25 5.5%
Grass fire 25 5.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 18 3.9%
All other categories 143 31.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Newaygo County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 20
Feb 27
Mar 60
Apr 54
May 48
Jun 46
Jul 46
Aug 41
Sep 31
Oct 38
Nov 29
Dec 17
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Newaygo County

2,440 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 474
2022 469
2023 607
2024 433
2025 457
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 139 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
37%
38
Cause undetermined
32%
33
Intentional / arson
4%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
11
Under investigation
12%
13
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Newaygo County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 82% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Sand Lake Building fires Significant
2 $200,000 FREMONT Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Sand Lake Building fires Significant
4 $150,000 GRANT Building fires Significant
5 $135,000 BROOKS TWP Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 BITELY Building fires Significant
7 $75,000 Sand Lake Building fires Significant
8 $75,000 NEWAYGO Building fires Significant
9 $60,000 Sand Lake Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $50,000 Newaygo Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Newaygo County compares

Newaygo County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

48.04
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Newaygo County
48.04
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
14.61
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Newaygo County
14.61
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Newaygo County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Newaygo County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26123.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Newaygo County

6 departments report from this county.

Newaygo Fire District
Newaygo
FDID 06206 124 incidents
Fremont FD
Fremont
FDID 06203 102 incidents
Big Prairie Twp Fire Dept
Newaygo
FDID 06208 61 incidents
White Cloud Area FireRescue
White Cloud
FDID 06207 41 incidents
Croton Township FD
Newaygo
FDID 06202 6 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.