In 2025, fire departments serving Elephant Butte responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
98 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $804K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | +62.5% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +26.9% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -54.5% |
* Well below Elephant Butte'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 0 building fires Elephant Butte departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 10 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 14.0% |
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 Elephant Butte mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 65.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elephant Butte departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elephant Butte sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 549,905 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 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 42,102 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 34,941 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 29,000 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 22,200 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 22,000 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 17,843 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 14,700 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 14,624 | 29.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 11,856 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 11,500 | 33.3 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 | 87935 | 98 |
Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Elephant Butte. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elephant Butte.
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.