In 2025, fire departments serving El Paso responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022* | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | -21.4% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +109.1% |
* Well below El Paso'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.
For the 4 building fires El Paso departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | 13 | 28.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 13.0% |
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 El Paso mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by El Paso departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. El Paso sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,711 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 28.0 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 | 61738 | 167 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of El Paso. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in El Paso.
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.