In 2025, fire departments serving Chaves County responded to 290 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips.
2,459 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 509 | |
| 2022 | 472 | |
| 2023 | 640 | |
| 2024 | 548 | |
| 2025 | 290 |
For the 45 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Chaves County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 89% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Dexter | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $100,000 | Dexter | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $65,000 | Roswell | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | Dexter | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Roswell | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $30,000 | Dexter | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $30,000 | Roswell | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 8 | $15,000 | Roswell | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $15,000 | Chaves County | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $10,000 | Dexter | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 35005.
12 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.