In 2025, fire departments serving Rio Arriba County responded to 348 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips.
2,212 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 443 | |
| 2022 | 486 | |
| 2023 | 441 | |
| 2024 | 494 | |
| 2025 | 348 |
For the 20 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Rio Arriba County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000,000 | ESPANOLA | Fire, other | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $260,000 | VELARDE | Fire, other | Major |
| 3 | $150,000 | MEDANALES | Fire, other | Significant |
| 4 | $70,000 | Tierra Amarilla | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $15,000 | Abiquiu | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $10,000 | Dulce | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 7 | $10,000 | Espanola | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $5,000 | Dulce | Authorized controlled burning | Significant |
| 9 | $5,000 | ESPANOLA | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $3,000 | ESPANOLA SFC | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 35039.
2 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.