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2025 County Report

Fires in Saginaw County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Saginaw County responded to 2,794 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $7.0M property loss.

88,311 residents FIPS 26145 45 cities · 17 fire depts
Total incidents
2,794
12,017 across 5 years
Building fires
317
138 wildland
Property loss
$15.9M
$12.9M structure · $2.9M contents
Casualties
3 / 3
3 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.

2,794
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 871 31.2%
Power line down 410 14.7%
Building fires 317 11.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 140 5.0%
Unauthorized burning 121 4.3%
All other categories 935 33.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Saginaw County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 240
Feb 178
Mar 366
Apr 329
May 310
Jun 269
Jul 270
Aug 290
Sep 248
Oct 106
Nov 106
Dec 82
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Saginaw County

12,017 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2,159
2022 2,158
2023 1,679
2024 3,227
2025 2,794
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 317 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
179
Cause undetermined
18%
76
Intentional / arson
10%
45
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
42
Under investigation
15%
65
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $9.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Saginaw County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 72% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $7,030,694 Bridgeport Building fires Catastrophic
2 $417,800 Frankenmuth Building fires Major
3 $300,000 Birch Run Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
4 $300,000 Saginaw Building fires Major
5 $259,800 Frankenmuth Building fires Major
6 $230,600 Freeland Building fires Significant
7 $225,000 SAGINAW Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 Birch Run Building fires Significant
9 $175,000 Saginaw Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 St Charles Building fires Significant
06 How Saginaw County compares

Saginaw County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

31.64
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Saginaw County
31.64
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
3.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Saginaw County
3.59
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
34
Civilian fire deaths per million
Saginaw County
34
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Saginaw County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26145.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Saginaw County

17 departments report from this county.

Saginaw FD
Saginaw
FDID 07312 1,380 incidents
SAGINAW TWP FIRE DEPT
SAGINAW
FDID 07313 283 incidents 3 paid
Buena Vista Township DPS
Saginaw
FDID 07305 154 incidents
ChesaningBrady FD
Chesaning
FDID 07307 128 incidents
THOMAS TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
SAGINAW
FDID 07315 126 incidents 2 paid
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.