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2025 County Report

Fires in Union County, NM

In 2025, fire departments serving Union County responded to 68 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

3,090 residents FIPS 35059 23 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
68
657 across 5 years
Building fires
5
8 wildland
Property loss
$385K
$275K structure · $110K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Aircraft standby lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

68
Total Incidents
Aircraft standby 28 41.2%
Grass fire 7 10.3%
Building fires 5 7.4%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 4 5.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 4.4%
All other categories 21 30.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Union County?

Mar peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 9
Feb 12
Mar 21
Apr 10
May 8
Jun 6
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Union County

657 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 117
2022 176
2023 175
2024 121
2025 68
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
31%
4
Cause undetermined
23%
3
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
3
Under investigation
23%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

6 fires · $275K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Union County during 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Capulin Building fires Significant
2 $30,000 Clayton Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
3 $20,000 Clayton Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
4 $10,000 Clayton Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
5 $10,000 Clayton Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
6 $5,000 SEDAN Cultivated grain or crop fire Significant
06 How Union County compares

Union County vs NM vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

22.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Union County
22.01
NM avg
11.48
US avg
7.15
1.62
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Union County
1.62
NM avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Union County
0
NM avg
13.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Union County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 35059.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Union County

1 departments report from this county.

FOLSOM FIRE DEPT
Folsom
FDID 59031 3 incidents 17 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.