In 2025, fire departments serving Artesia responded to 305 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,178 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $30.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 160 | — | |
| 2022 | 219 | +36.9% | |
| 2023 | 210 | -4.1% | |
| 2024 | 284 | +35.2% | |
| 2025 | 305 | +7.4% |
For the 35 building fires Artesia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 361 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 25.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 43 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 91 | 25.2% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Artesia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 178 | 49.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 23 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 22 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 21 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 11.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Artesia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 618,181 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92,390 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64,936 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 53,342 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 49,092 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36,324 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 35,165 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 30,487 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 29,952 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 25,329 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,781 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 18,835 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 18,199 | 30.1 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Artesia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Artesia.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.