In 2025, fire departments serving Mountainair responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Attempted burning, illegal action, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $176K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | +47.8% | |
| 2023 | 34 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -29.4% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -25.0% |
For the 1 building fires Mountainair departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 17 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 10 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 21.7% |
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 Mountainair mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 55.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Munitions | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mountainair departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,908 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mountainair sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 128,017 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 17,912 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 13,709 | 16.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 10,000 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,000 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 7,836 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 7,100 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,969 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 5,478 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 5,280 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 5,200 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,500 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 3,840 | 28.3 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 Mountainair. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mountainair.
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.