In 2025, fire departments serving Capitan responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | +46.7% | |
| 2023 | 28 | +27.3% | |
| 2024 | 22 | -21.4% | |
| 2025 | 25 | +13.6% |
For the 4 building fires Capitan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Laboratory | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Awning | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 20.8% |
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 Capitan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Candle | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Capitan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Capitan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 486,192 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 101,562 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 64,488 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 40,000 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 35,165 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 31,861 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 25,329 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,422 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 16,020 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,000 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 13,969 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 13,500 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,624 | 27.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88316 | 112 |
Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Capitan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Capitan.
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.