Home› Counties› MI› Sanilac County
2025 County Report

Fires in Sanilac County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Sanilac County responded to 233 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $750K property loss.

13,405 residents FIPS 26151 43 cities · 14 fire depts
Total incidents
233
1,194 across 5 years
Building fires
70
20 wildland
Property loss
$4.1M
$2.9M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
3 / 2
3 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.

233
Total Incidents
Building fires 70 30.0%
Power line down 44 18.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 17 7.3%
Fire, other 12 5.2%
Grass fire 12 5.2%
All other categories 78 33.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Sanilac County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 21
Feb 18
Mar 27
Apr 26
May 16
Jun 19
Jul 32
Aug 12
Sep 16
Oct 13
Nov 23
Dec 10
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Sanilac County

1,194 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 344
2022 203
2023 204
2024 210
2025 233
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 70 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
27
Cause undetermined
26%
17
Intentional / arson
8%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
14
Under investigation
5%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Sanilac County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 76% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $750,000 Croswell Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Brown City Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Brown City Building fires Major
4 $200,000 Brown City Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 BROWN CITY Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 Marlette Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 Sandusky Building fires Significant
8 $140,000 Brown City Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Croswell Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 Carsonville Building fires Significant
06 How Sanilac County compares

Sanilac County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sanilac County
17.38
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
5.22
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sanilac County
5.22
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
223.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sanilac County
223.8
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Sanilac County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26151.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Sanilac County

14 departments report from this county.

Marlette FireRescue
Marlette
FDID 07608 51 incidents
Brown City FD
Brown City
FDID 07602 41 incidents
Croswell FD
Croswell
FDID 07604 34 incidents
Elk Township FD
Peck
FDID 07611 21 incidents
Port Sanilac Fire Department
Port Sanilac
FDID 07612 20 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.