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2025 County Report

Fires in Bernalillo County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Bernalillo County responded to 7,954 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $311K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

639,086 residents FIPS 35001 48 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
7,954
42,539 across 5 years
Building fires
203
230 wildland
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.4M structure · $1.0M contents
Casualties
7 / 19
7 civ deaths · 12 civ inj · 7 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.

7,954
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 4,582 57.6%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1,318 16.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 384 4.8%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 283 3.6%
Building fires 203 2.6%
All other categories 1,184 14.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Bernalillo County?

Feb peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 26
Feb 1,489
Mar 1,382
Apr 963
May 764
Jun 633
Jul 454
Aug 471
Sep 430
Oct 29
Nov 1,312
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Bernalillo County

42,539 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 6,182
2022 7,421
2023 9,361
2024 11,621
2025 7,954
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 203 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
34%
174
Cause undetermined
34%
176
Intentional / arson
9%
45
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
35
Under investigation
16%
83
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Bernalillo County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 69% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $311,491 Albuquerque Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Albuquerque Building fires Major
3 $223,560 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Albuquerque Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $175,000 Sandia Park Building fires Significant
6 $128,477 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
7 $128,477 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
8 $88,203 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
9 $85,339 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
10 $82,557 Albuquerque Building fires Significant
06 How Bernalillo County compares

Bernalillo County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.45
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Bernalillo County
12.45
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
0.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Bernalillo County
0.32
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
11
Civilian fire deaths per million
Bernalillo County
11
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Bernalillo County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Bernalillo County

3 departments report from this county.

BERNALILLO COUNTY
Albuquerque
FDID 01013 662 incidents 225 paid
LOS RANCHOS DE ALBUQUERQUE
—
FDID 01079 60 incidents
TIJERAS
Tijeras
FDID 01085 8 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in NM

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Hermits Peak 2022 USFS 341,734
2 Black 2022 USFS 325,135
3 Calf Canyon 2022 USFS 299,792
4 Las Conchas 2011 NPS 156,989
5 Donaldson 2011 USFS 96,129
6 Johnson 2021 USFS 94,786
7 Miller 2011 USFS 88,880
8 Miller 2011 NPS 88,817
9 Ponil 2002 USFS 86,557
10 Pass 2023 USFS 59,934

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.