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2025 County Report

Fires in Sandoval County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Sandoval County responded to 761 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $302K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

140,697 residents FIPS 35043 48 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
761
4,327 across 5 years
Building fires
47
87 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.5M structure · $503K contents
Casualties
2 / 5
2 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

761
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 146 19.2%
Unauthorized burning 105 13.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 68 8.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 49 6.4%
Building fires 47 6.2%
All other categories 346 45.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Sandoval County?

Jan peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 84
Feb 70
Mar 80
Apr 83
May 68
Jun 66
Jul 55
Aug 52
Sep 47
Oct 82
Nov 30
Dec 44
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Sandoval County

4,327 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 747
2022 822
2023 970
2024 1,027
2025 761
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 47 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
95
Cause undetermined
20%
40
Intentional / arson
14%
28
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
15
Under investigation
9%
17
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Sandoval County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 83% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $302,000 Rio Rancho Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Rio Rancho Building fires Major
3 $187,698 Rio Rancho Building fires Significant
4 $125,000 Rio Rancho Building fires Significant
5 $106,393 Rio Rancho Building fires Significant
6 $79,225 Rio Rancho Building fires Significant
7 $50,000 Sandia Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $40,000 Bernalillo Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $40,000 Rio Rancho Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $35,000 Rio Rancho Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Sandoval County compares

Sandoval County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.41
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sandoval County
5.41
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
0.33
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sandoval County
0.33
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
14.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sandoval County
14.2
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Sandoval County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35043.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Sandoval County

1 departments report from this county.

Cochiti Lake Fire Department
Cochiti Lake
FDID 43019 3 incidents 6 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.