In 2025, fire departments across Michigan responded to 78,484 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Brittle wildfire that burned 5,666 acres in 2021.
Michigan ranks #38 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Power line down lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Aug peaks across the window; Dec dips.
430,482 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87,122 | |
| 2022 | 83,840 | |
| 2023 | 95,902 | |
| 2024 | 85,134 | |
| 2025 | 78,484 |
For the 11,643 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 34,638 | 5,020 / 29,618 | 28,338 | |
| 2 | Equipment & vehicle use | 12,970 | 3,892 / 9,078 | 12,489 | |
| 3 | Arson / incendiarism | 9,462 | 949 / 8,513 | 9,917 | |
| 4 | Debris & open burning | 4,174 | 4,174 / 0 | 35,774 | |
| 5 | Natural (lightning) | 2,963 | 1,440 / 1,523 | 49,812 | |
| 6 | Other causes | 2,656 | 117 / 2,539 | 190 | |
| 7 | Recreation & ceremony | 1,534 | 1,534 / 0 | 13,456 | |
| 8 | Power generation / utility | 623 | 623 / 0 | 3,910 | |
| 9 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 500 | 500 / 0 | 1,513 | |
| 10 | Smoking | 475 | 475 / 0 | 1,905 | |
| 11 | Railroad operations | 251 | 251 / 0 | 2,388 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 152 | 152 / 0 | 453 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrical / wiring | 138,297 | $2.4M | 0 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 86,844 | $2.2B | 383 | |
| 3 | Outdoor fires | 65,225 | $7.6M | 12 | |
| 4 | Gas leaks | 60,420 | $286K | 0 | |
| 5 | Wildland fires | 25,882 | $6.3M | 8 | |
| 6 | Vehicle fires | 25,542 | $260.8M | 97 | |
| 7 | Rubbish / refuse | 17,269 | $3.5M | 5 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 16,635 | $2.5M | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 7,121 | $27.4M | 20 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 59% of Michigan's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000,000 | Grand Haven | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $200,000,000 | EAST CHINA TWP | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $14,373,509 | TROY | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 4 | $10,000,000 | SOUTHGATE | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 5 | $7,030,694 | Bridgeport | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 6 | $5,000,000 | SOUTHGATE | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 7 | $4,000,000 | Jackson | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $4,000,000 | Glen Arbor | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $2,550,455 | Grand Blanc | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $2,500,000 | COLDWATER | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Michigan apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne County | 10,261 | 1,478,093 |
| 2 | Oakland County | 6,699 | 799,654 |
| 3 | Kent County | 5,158 | 483,856 |
| 4 | Macomb County | 3,396 | 487,658 |
| 5 | Genesee County | 3,294 | 183,450 |
| 6 | Saginaw County | 2,794 | 88,311 |
| 7 | Washtenaw County | 2,615 | 171,954 |
| 8 | Kalamazoo County | 2,592 | 156,702 |
| 9 | Ingham County | 2,490 | 248,222 |
| 10 | Muskegon County | 2,042 | 97,068 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saginaw County | 31.64 | 2,794 | 88,311 | |
| 2 | Berrien County | 29.52 | 1,930 | 65,377 | |
| 3 | Jackson County | 25.44 | 1,286 | 50,541 | |
| 4 | St. Clair County | 25.38 | 1,611 | 63,477 | |
| 5 | Muskegon County | 21.04 | 2,042 | 97,068 | |
| 6 | Monroe County | 18.94 | 1,439 | 75,977 | |
| 7 | Eaton County | 18.43 | 1,021 | 55,413 | |
| 8 | Genesee County | 17.96 | 3,294 | 183,450 | |
| 9 | Ottawa County | 16.87 | 1,946 | 115,361 | |
| 10 | Kalamazoo County | 16.54 | 2,592 | 156,702 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
113 perimeters and 11,370 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3 | 4 | |
| 2000s | 1 | 7 | |
| 2010s | 27 | 1,626 | |
| 2020s | 82 | 9,733 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2,971 | |
| 2000s | 4,683 | |
| 2010s | 9,870 | |
| 2020s | 1,603 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 19,127 ignitions total.
2,983 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 48 | |
| 10-19 | 113 | |
| 20-29 | 435 | |
| 30-39 | 530 | |
| 40-49 | 431 | |
| 50-59 | 347 | |
| 60-69 | 248 | |
| 70-79 | 176 | |
| 80+ | 107 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.