In 2025, fire departments serving Valencia responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 17 | — | |
| 2025 | 40 | +135.3% |
* Well below Valencia'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 3 building fires Valencia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 14 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Valencia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 76.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Valencia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 92,142 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 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 13,709 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,000 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 7,836 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,969 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 5,478 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 3,840 | 31.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,700 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,560 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,213 | 21.8 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 | 87031 | 77 |
Six New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Valencia. 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.