In 2025, fire departments serving Vado responded to 10 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | -38.5% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -25.0% | |
| 2024 | 18 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 10 | -44.4% |
For the 0 building fires Vado departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | 28 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 2.2% |
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 Vado mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 91.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vado sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 103,866 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 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13,424 | 15.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 11,856 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 9,000 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 8,900 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,181 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,160 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,045 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,000 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,650 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,582 | 9.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,400 | 33.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88072 | 82 |
Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Vado. 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.