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2025 County Report

Fires in Wexford County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Wexford County responded to 413 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

13,899 residents FIPS 26165 18 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
413
1,798 across 5 years
Building fires
73
56 wildland
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.7M structure · $754K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

413
Total Incidents
Power line down 119 28.8%
Building fires 73 17.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 27 6.5%
Unauthorized burning 23 5.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 19 4.6%
All other categories 152 36.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Wexford County?

Jun peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 21
Feb 33
Mar 42
Apr 38
May 43
Jun 46
Jul 38
Aug 25
Sep 21
Oct 41
Nov 22
Dec 43
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Wexford County

1,798 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 415
2022 312
2023 346
2024 312
2025 413
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 73 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
28%
25
Cause undetermined
36%
32
Intentional / arson
9%
8
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
11
Under investigation
10%
9
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Wexford County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 71% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Buckley Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Buckley Passenger vehicle fire Major
3 $250,000 Cadillac Building fires Major
4 $250,000 HARRIETTA Building fires Major
5 $185,000 Cadillac Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
6 $180,000 BOON Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 MESICK Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 CADILLAC Building fires Significant
9 $120,000 Manton Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 MESICK Building fires Significant
06 How Wexford County compares

Wexford County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

29.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Wexford County
29.71
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
5.25
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Wexford County
5.25
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Wexford County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Wexford County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26165.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Wexford County

11 departments report from this county.

Cadillac Fire
Cadillac
FDID 08302 142 incidents 11 paid
MANTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
MANTON MICHIGAN
FDID 08304 45 incidents
COLFAX GREENWOOD FIRE DEPT
MANTON
FDID 08312 32 incidents 10 vol
Cedar Creek Township Fire Dept
Manton
FDID 08311 31 incidents
Selma Township FD
Cadillac
FDID 08309 28 incidents 1 paid 18 vol
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.