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2025 County Report

Fires in Oceana County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Oceana County responded to 347 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

7,725 residents FIPS 26127 15 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
347
1,695 across 5 years
Building fires
100
44 wildland
Property loss
$3.0M
$2.2M structure · $807K contents
Casualties
1 / 0
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 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.

347
Total Incidents
Building fires 100 28.8%
Power line down 86 24.8%
Grass fire 27 7.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 15 4.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 13 3.7%
All other categories 106 30.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Oceana County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 6
Feb 17
Mar 52
Apr 52
May 43
Jun 44
Jul 37
Aug 36
Sep 27
Oct 14
Nov 15
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Oceana County

1,695 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 354
2022 304
2023 353
2024 337
2025 347
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 100 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
69%
50
Cause undetermined
4%
3
Intentional / arson
7%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
11
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Oceana County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 85% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Hesperia Building fires Major
2 $350,000 Mears Building fires Major
3 $200,000 Shelby Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Hart Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 MEARS Building fires Significant
6 $120,000 Hart Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle Significant
7 $120,000 Mears Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle Significant
8 $100,000 Hart Building fires Significant
9 $70,000 Shelby Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 Hart Building fires Significant
06 How Oceana County compares

Oceana County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

44.92
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oceana County
44.92
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
12.94
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oceana County
12.94
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
129.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oceana County
129.4
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Oceana County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26127.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Oceana County

8 departments report from this county.

Shelby Benona Fire District
Shelby
FDID 06406 84 incidents
Hesperia Area Fire Department
Hesperia
FDID 06410 55 incidents 12 vol
Ferry Township FD
—
FDID 06401 48 incidents
Pentwater FD
Pentwater
FDID 06405 31 incidents 2 paid
Walkerville Area FireRescue
Walkerville
FDID 06407 31 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.