In 2025, fire departments serving Tatum responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
116 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $329K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | +80.8% | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024* | 10 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | — |
* Well below Tatum'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 Tatum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | Outside area, other | 24 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 5.6% |
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 Tatum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 53.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tatum departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tatum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 738,908 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92,390 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67,008 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64,936 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 55,080 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44,162 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40,333 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36,324 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 25,747 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,781 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 13.6 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 Tatum. 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.