In 2025, fire departments serving Santa Teresa responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
166 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $55K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | — | |
| 2023 | 47 | +123.8% | |
| 2024 | 45 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 35 | -22.2% |
* Well below Santa Teresa'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 Santa Teresa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 24 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.2% |
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 Santa Teresa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 70.8% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Santa Teresa sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,040 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Natural | 13,804 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13,424 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 9,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,160 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,045 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,582 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,400 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,735 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,472 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 32.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,000 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 40.0 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 Santa Teresa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.