In 2025, fire departments serving Hernandez responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
206 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | -26.8% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -6.7% | |
| 2024 | 44 | +57.1% | |
| 2025 | 63 | +43.2% |
For the 6 building fires Hernandez departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 117 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 | 48 | 41.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 28 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 5.1% |
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 Hernandez mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 96 | 82.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 3 | Match | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 3.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hernandez sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 431,959 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 156,593 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 47,650 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28,348 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 27,100 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 23,938 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,575 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,995 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 11,149 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10,219 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,142 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,112 | 23.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 7,525 | 47.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Hernandez. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hernandez.
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.