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2025 County Report

Fires in Ontonagon County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Ontonagon County responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

2,995 residents FIPS 26131 31 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
18
58 across 5 years
Building fires
4
0 wildland
Property loss
$445K
$330K structure · $115K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 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 83% of all calls.

18
Total Incidents
Building fires 4 22.2%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 4 22.2%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 4 22.2%
Fire, other 2 11.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 1 5.6%
All other categories 3 16.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ontonagon County?

Mar peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 1
Feb 1
Mar 8
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 2
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ontonagon County

58 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 18
2022 13
2023 3
2024 6
2025 18
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 4 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
3
Cause undetermined
17%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
1
Under investigation
17%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $330K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ontonagon County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Bruce Crossing Building fires Major
2 $75,000 Ontonagon Outside storage fire Significant
3 $5,000 Rockland Building fires Significant
06 How Ontonagon County compares

Ontonagon County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ontonagon County
6.01
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
1.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ontonagon County
1.34
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ontonagon County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ontonagon County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26131.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ontonagon County

9 departments report from this county.

Bruce Crossing VFD
Bruce Crossing
FDID 06606 10 incidents 18 vol
Trout Creek VFD
Trout Creek
FDID 06607 4 incidents
Rockland VFD
Rockland
FDID 06605 2 incidents 15 vol
Ontonagon FD
Ontonagon
FDID 06604 1 incidents 21 vol
Bergland VFD
Bergland
FDID 06601 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.