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2025 County Report

Fires in Costilla County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving Costilla County responded to 91 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $85K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

1,563 residents FIPS 08023 18 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
91
496 across 5 years
Building fires
7
23 wildland
Property loss
$312K
$191K structure · $122K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 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 51% of all calls.

91
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 12 13.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 11 12.1%
Outside rubbish fire, other 9 9.9%
Building fires 7 7.7%
Authorized controlled burning 7 7.7%
All other categories 45 49.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Costilla County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 8
Feb 5
Mar 14
Apr 13
May 0
Jun 13
Jul 8
Aug 9
Sep 10
Oct 2
Nov 6
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Costilla County

496 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 85
2022 126
2023 100
2024 94
2025 91
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
56%
14
Cause undetermined
4%
1
Intentional / arson
20%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
12%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $191K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Costilla County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $85,000 San Luis Fire, other Significant
2 $20,000 Mesita Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 Fort Garland Building fires Significant
4 $20,000 Fort Garldnd Accident, potential accident, other Significant
5 $15,000 Blanca Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
6 $15,000 Blanca Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
7 $5,000 Chama Building fires Significant
8 $5,000 Fort Garland Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $5,000 San Luis Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $500 Fort Garland Outside rubbish fire, other Significant
06 How Costilla County compares

Costilla County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

58.22
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Costilla County
58.22
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
4.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Costilla County
4.48
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Costilla County
0
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Costilla County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 08023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Costilla County

3 departments report from this county.

COSTILLA COUNTY FIRE PROT DIST
SAN LUIS
FDID 02310 90 incidents 35 vol
NULL BLANCA FIRE DEPARTMENT
BLANCA
FDID 02305 0 incidents 5 vol
NULL WILD HORSE MESA VFD
MESITA
FDID 02340 0 incidents 5 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in CO

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cameron Peak 2020 USFS 208,912
2 Pine Gulch 2020 BLM 138,802
3 Hayman 2002 USFS 137,760
4 Spring Creek 2018 BLM 108,045
5 High Park 2012 BLM 87,306
6 MISSIONARY RIDGE 2002 USFS 70,480
7 WEST FORK 2013 USFS 56,575
8 416 2018 USFS 54,130
9 Papoose 2013 USFS 49,282
10 Bridger 2008 BLM 46,588

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.