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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Cuba, New Mexico

In 2025, fire departments serving Cuba responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade F Peak yr 2023 Sandoval County 547 residents 2 reporting departments 147 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Cuba's departments reported 16 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 29 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
16
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$2K
$1K structure · $1K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

16
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 4 25.0%
Building fires 2 12.5%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 2 12.5%
Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle 2 12.5%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 6.2%
All other categories 5 31.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 5
Mar 0
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 4
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 1
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Cuba

147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 32 —
2022 30 -6.2%
2023 38 +26.7%
2024 31 -18.4%
2025* 16 —

* Well below Cuba's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires Cuba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
29%
2
Cause undetermined
43%
3
Intentional / arson
14%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
14%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Cuba?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 70 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 54 77.1%
2 Other 4 5.7%
3 Outside area, other 4 5.7%
4 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 2 2.9%
5 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 1 1.4%
6 Storage area, other 1 1.4%
7 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 1 1.4%
8 Switchgear area, transformer vault 1 1.4%
9 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 1 1.4%
10 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 1 1.4%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Cuba mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 57 81.4%
2 Heat source: other 4 5.7%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 2.9%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.4%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 1.4%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 1.4%
7 Hot ember or ash 1 1.4%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 1.4%
9 Heat spread from another fire, other 1 1.4%
10 Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions 1 1.4%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $1K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cuba departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Significant Investigated
05 How Cuba compares

Cuba vs New Mexico vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cuba sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

29.25
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cuba
29.25
NM avg
11.46
US avg
7.48
3.66
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cuba
3.66
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cuba
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Cuba

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 325,973 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2011 Power generation/transmission/distribution 156,593 27.9 mi
2000 Debris and open burning 47,650 32.9 mi
2010 Natural 27,100 29.1 mi
2013 Power generation/transmission/distribution 23,938 21.2 mi
1996 Recreation and ceremony 16,575 35.0 mi
1998 Arson/incendiarism 5,185 37.1 mi
2014 Natural 4,303 28.5 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,257 44.5 mi
2018 Natural 4,150 19.2 mi
2002 Recreation and ceremony 4,026 17.4 mi
2005 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,922 44.1 mi
2014 Natural 3,626 14.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Cuba do fires concentrate?

Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 87013 146
2 87018 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Cuba

Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Cuba. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Cuba?

2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cuba.

Pueblo Pintado
53 W HCR 79 Box 80 RT W
FDID 31099Volunteer
CUBA FIRE DEPARTMENT
16 B E East Cordova
FDID 43031Volunteer
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.