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2025 County Report

Fires in Socorro County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Socorro County responded to 174 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

12,399 residents FIPS 35053 40 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
174
1,070 across 5 years
Building fires
21
64 wildland
Property loss
$4.1M
$2.9M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 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 58% of all calls.

174
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 47 27.0%
Building fires 21 12.1%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 15 8.6%
Authorized controlled burning 10 5.7%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 8 4.6%
All other categories 73 42.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Socorro County?

Feb peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 24
Feb 41
Mar 30
Apr 32
May 12
Jun 10
Jul 11
Aug 5
Sep 2
Oct 4
Nov 1
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Socorro County

1,070 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 239
2022 223
2023 242
2024 192
2025 174
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 21 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
30%
21
Cause undetermined
30%
21
Intentional / arson
10%
7
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
9
Under investigation
17%
12
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Socorro County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 84% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 abaytas Chemical hazard (no spill or leak) Major
2 $350,000 Socorro Building fires Major
3 $200,000 City of Socorro Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
4 $180,000 Socorro Building fires Significant
5 $180,000 Polvedera Building fires Significant
6 $180,000 Socorro Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 City of Socorro Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
8 $100,000 City of Socorro Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
9 $56,000 Veguita Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 la Joya Building fires Significant
06 How Socorro County compares

Socorro County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Socorro County
14.03
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
1.69
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Socorro County
1.69
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Socorro County
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Socorro County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35053.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Socorro County

3 departments report from this county.

San Antonio Fire Department
San Antonio
FDID 53031 7 incidents 18 vol
La Joya FD CLOSED
La Joya
FDID 53013 0 incidents
Alamo Fire Dist CLOSED
Alamo
FDID 53055 0 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.