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2025 County Report

Fires in Shiawassee County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Shiawassee County responded to 579 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.

30,919 residents FIPS 26155 26 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
579
2,722 across 5 years
Building fires
184
40 wildland
Property loss
$9.4M
$6.2M structure · $3.2M contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 2 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 63% of all calls.

579
Total Incidents
Building fires 184 31.8%
Power line down 70 12.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 63 10.9%
Carbon monoxide incident 25 4.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 22 3.8%
All other categories 215 37.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Shiawassee County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 49
Feb 38
Mar 106
Apr 61
May 50
Jun 54
Jul 43
Aug 40
Sep 36
Oct 25
Nov 38
Dec 39
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Shiawassee County

2,722 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 554
2022 464
2023 567
2024 558
2025 579
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 184 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
59
Cause undetermined
17%
22
Intentional / arson
9%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
14
Under investigation
10%
13
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Shiawassee County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 67% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Laingsburg Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Vernon Building fires Major
3 $400,000 Laingsburg Building fires Major
4 $390,000 OWOSSO Building fires Major
5 $380,000 BYRON Building fires Major
6 $320,000 HENDERSON Building fires Major
7 $300,000 Morrice Building fires Major
8 $300,000 Morrice Building fires Major
9 $300,000 Perry Building fires Major
10 $275,000 OWOSSO Building fires Major
06 How Shiawassee County compares

Shiawassee County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.73
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Shiawassee County
18.73
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
5.95
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Shiawassee County
5.95
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
32.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Shiawassee County
32.3
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Shiawassee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26155.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Shiawassee County

9 departments report from this county.

Perry Area Fire Rescue
Perry
FDID 07809 78 incidents 12 paid
VERNON TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
VERNON
FDID 07813 65 incidents
Hazelton Twp Fire Dept
New Lothrop
FDID 07806 43 incidents 20 vol
Venice Township Fire Dept
Lennon
FDID 07812 41 incidents
City of Durand Fire Department
Durand
FDID 07804 27 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.