In 2025, fire departments serving Deming responded to 427 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,666 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 365 | — | |
| 2022 | 445 | +21.9% | |
| 2023 | 707 | +58.9% | |
| 2024 | 722 | +2.1% | |
| 2025 | 427 | -40.9% |
For the 43 building fires Deming departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,398 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 | 795 | 56.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 197 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 52 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 33 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 27 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 25 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 19 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 148 | 10.6% |
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 Deming mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,128 | 80.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 79 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 57 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 1.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 1.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 12 | 0.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 12 | 0.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 11 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 42 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Deming departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 71% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Deming sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 305,230 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Natural | 234,000 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 13,804 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 11,856 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,987 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 4,244 | 11.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 3,000 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 3,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 2,800 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,400 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,100 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 32.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Deming. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Deming.
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.