In 2025, fire departments serving Raton responded to 118 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 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 66% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
657 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 109 | — | |
| 2022 | 124 | +13.8% | |
| 2023 | 185 | +49.2% | |
| 2024 | 121 | -34.6% | |
| 2025 | 118 | -2.5% |
For the 9 building fires Raton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 123 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 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 14 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 14.6% |
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 Raton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 26 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 4.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Raton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Raton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 317,072 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Natural | 92,194 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36,740 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 33,000 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,525 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 19,970 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 13,572 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 12,350 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 8,432 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 6,275 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,140 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,000 | 12.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Raton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Raton.
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.