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2025 County Report

Fires in Hidalgo County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Hidalgo County responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $14K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

3,281 residents FIPS 35023 41 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
49
378 across 5 years
Building fires
5
12 wildland
Property loss
$17K
$14K structure · $3K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.

49
Total Incidents
Authorized controlled burning 16 32.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 6 12.2%
Building fires 5 10.2%
Grass fire 5 10.2%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 3 6.1%
All other categories 14 28.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hidalgo County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 2
Feb 3
Mar 18
Apr 10
May 7
Jun 4
Jul 4
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hidalgo County

378 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 74
2022 100
2023 84
2024 71
2025 49
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
71%
17
Cause undetermined
8%
2
Intentional / arson
8%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
3
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $14K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hidalgo County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $14,000 Rodeo Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
2 $100 Steins Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Hidalgo County compares

Hidalgo County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.93
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hidalgo County
14.93
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
1.52
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hidalgo County
1.52
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hidalgo County
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hidalgo County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hidalgo County

3 departments report from this county.

Lordsburg Fire Department
Lordsburg
FDID 23025 13 incidents 21 vol
HIDALGO COUNTY DISTRICT 1
Lordsburg
FDID 23019 11 incidents 7 vol
Virden Fire Department
Virden
FDID 23043 2 incidents 12 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.