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2025 County Report

Fires in Ogemaw County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Ogemaw County responded to 302 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $175K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

6,316 residents FIPS 26129 13 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
302
1,023 across 5 years
Building fires
29
48 wildland
Property loss
$804K
$676K structure · $128K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.

302
Total Incidents
Power line down 134 44.4%
Building fires 29 9.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 23 7.6%
Grass fire 21 7.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 17 5.6%
All other categories 78 25.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ogemaw County?

Apr peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 7
Feb 6
Mar 47
Apr 68
May 35
Jun 26
Jul 30
Aug 16
Sep 10
Oct 17
Nov 18
Dec 22
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ogemaw County

1,023 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 190
2022 95
2023 134
2024 302
2025 302
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 29 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
27
Cause undetermined
23%
14
Intentional / arson
10%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
7
Under investigation
3%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $555K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $175,000 WEST BRANCH Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $80,000 South Branch Building fires Significant
3 $75,000 WEST BRANCH Building or structure weakened or collapsed Significant
4 $50,000 WEST BRANCH Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 WEST BRANCH Building fires Significant
6 $35,000 LUPTON Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $25,000 WEST BRANCH Vehicle accident, general cleanup Significant
8 $25,000 WEST BRANCH Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $25,000 WEST BRANCH Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $25,000 WEST BRANCH Building fires Significant
06 How Ogemaw County compares

Ogemaw County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

47.82
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ogemaw County
47.82
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
4.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ogemaw County
4.59
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ogemaw County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ogemaw County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ogemaw County

6 departments report from this county.

ROSE CITY AREA FIRE DEPARTMENT
ROSE CITYMI
FDID 06503 38 incidents
Hill Rose FD
Lupton
FDID 06501 29 incidents
RichlandLogan FD
Prescott
FDID 06502 28 incidents
Goodar Twp Vol Fire Dept
South Branch
FDID 06505 11 incidents 31 vol
Clear Lake Fire Deptment
West Branch
FDID 06507 0 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.