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2025 County Report

Fires in Quay County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Quay County responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

6,539 residents FIPS 35037 23 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
106
641 across 5 years
Building fires
18
38 wildland
Property loss
$771K
$590K structure · $181K 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 63% of all calls.

106
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 19 17.9%
Building fires 18 17.0%
Grass fire 18 17.0%
Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire 6 5.7%
Power line down 6 5.7%
All other categories 39 36.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Quay County?

May peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 18
Feb 18
Mar 15
Apr 19
May 20
Jun 9
Jul 7
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Quay County

641 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 67
2022 146
2023 140
2024 182
2025 106
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 18 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
17
Cause undetermined
6%
2
Intentional / arson
9%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
6
Under investigation
20%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $589K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 City of Tucumcari Building fires Significant
2 $200,000 Logan Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
3 $75,000 City of Tucumcari Building fires Significant
4 $50,000 City of Tucumcari Building fires Significant
5 $30,000 City of Tucumcari Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $30,000 City of Tucumcari Building fires Significant
7 $2,000 City of Tucumcari Building fires Significant
8 $1,000 City of Tucumcari Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
9 $500 Tucumcari Grass fire Significant
10 $500 Tucumcari Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
06 How Quay County compares

Quay County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.21
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Quay County
16.21
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
2.75
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Quay County
2.75
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Quay County
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Quay County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35037.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Quay County

3 departments report from this county.

Tucumcari Main
Tucumcari
FDID 37073 52 incidents 2 paid
Jordan Fire Department
McAlister
FDID 37043 1 incidents 29 vol
Quay Fire Department
Tucumcari
FDID 37061 1 incidents 21 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.