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2025 County Report

Fires in Cibola County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Cibola County responded to 266 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

23,368 residents FIPS 35006 60 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
266
2,746 across 5 years
Building fires
37
75 wildland
Property loss
$1.1M
$517K structure · $538K contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

266
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 52 19.5%
Building fires 37 13.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 33 12.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 19 7.1%
Fire, other 11 4.1%
All other categories 114 42.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Cibola County?

Feb peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 36
Feb 43
Mar 28
Apr 34
May 26
Jun 24
Jul 23
Aug 9
Sep 17
Oct 4
Nov 19
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Cibola County

2,746 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 724
2022 723
2023 603
2024 430
2025 266
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 37 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
39
Cause undetermined
14%
12
Intentional / arson
8%
7
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
18
Under investigation
11%
10
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $495K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Cibola County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 96% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 City of Grants Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Major
2 $60,000 MILAN Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $50,000 Bluewater Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $50,000 Laguna Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $30,000 MILAN Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $20,000 City of Grants Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $10,000 Grants Building fires Significant
8 $10,000 Grants Building fires Significant
9 $10,000 Laguna Building fires Significant
10 $5,000 Grants Building fires Significant
06 How Cibola County compares

Cibola County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cibola County
11.38
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
1.58
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cibola County
1.58
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cibola County
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Cibola County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35006.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Cibola County

4 departments report from this county.

GRANTS FIRE DEPT
Grants
FDID 06031 96 incidents 9 paid 7 vol
CUBERO FIRE DEPT
Cubero
FDID 06013 5 incidents 12 vol
FENCE LAKE FIRE DEPT
Fence Lake
FDID 06025 0 incidents 13 vol
LOBO CANYON
Grants
FDID 06037 0 incidents 17 vol
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.