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2025 County Report

Fires in St. Clair County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving St. Clair County responded to 1,611 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200.0M property loss.

63,477 residents FIPS 26147 60 cities · 18 fire depts
Total incidents
1,611
9,581 across 5 years
Building fires
275
50 wildland
Property loss
$207.3M
$204.9M structure · $2.4M contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

1,611
Total Incidents
Building fires 275 17.1%
Authorized controlled burning 268 16.6%
Power line down 249 15.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 138 8.6%
Unauthorized burning 106 6.6%
All other categories 575 35.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in St. Clair County?

Sep peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 124
Feb 81
Mar 135
Apr 126
May 132
Jun 149
Jul 155
Aug 149
Sep 158
Oct 150
Nov 122
Dec 130
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in St. Clair County

9,581 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2,171
2022 1,884
2023 2,079
2024 1,836
2025 1,611
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 275 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
114
Cause undetermined
16%
39
Intentional / arson
8%
21
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
37
Under investigation
13%
32
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $202.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in St. Clair County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000,000 EAST CHINA TWP Building fires Catastrophic
2 $500,000 Burtchville Outside equipment fire Major
3 $300,000 Port Huron Building fires Major
4 $280,000 FORT GRATIOT Building fires Major
5 $275,000 Yale Building fires Major
6 $200,000 Mussey Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 Jeddo Fire, other Significant
8 $200,000 ST CLAIR TWP Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 Saint Clair Building fires Significant
10 $199,000 Clay Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How St. Clair County compares

St. Clair County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

25.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
St. Clair County
25.38
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
4.33
Building fires per 1,000 residents
St. Clair County
4.33
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
St. Clair County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in St. Clair County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26147.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in St. Clair County

18 departments report from this county.

CLAY TWP MAINLAND FIRE DP
CLAY TOWNSHIP
FDID 07421 353 incidents 1 paid
PORT HURON FD central
Port Huron
FDID 07415 326 incidents 50 paid
Port Huron Township
Port Huron
FDID 07416 128 incidents 4 paid
Fort Gratiot FD
Fort Gratiot
FDID 07406 118 incidents 26 paid
ST CLAIR AREA FIRE AUTHORITY
ST CLAIR
FDID 07417 88 incidents 1 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.