In 2025, fire departments serving Zapata County responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips.
195 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | |
| 2022 | 24 | |
| 2023 | 56 | |
| 2024 | 65 | |
| 2025 | 43 |
For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 48505.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Zapata | 5,110 | View › |
| Medina | 4,436 | View › |
| Siesta Shores | 1,619 | View › |
| Falcon Lake Estates | 1,037 | View › |
| San Ygnacio | 590 | View › |
| Falcon Mesa | 118 | View › |
| Lopeno | 48 | View › |
| Las Palmas | 46 | View › |
| Morales-Sanchez | 0 | View › |
| Bustamante | 0 | View › |
| Escobas | 0 | View › |
| Los Lobos | 0 | View › |
1 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 | Smokehouse Creek | 2024 | SF | 1,054,154 |
| 2 | Rock House | 2011 | NPS | 314,377 |
| 3 | Potter#1FP (Fain Plant) | 2006 | NPS | 22,040 |
| 4 | Cane | 2017 | NPS | 14,240 |
| 5 | WF HOLIDAY 1 & 2 | 2012 | FWS | 14,181 |
| 6 | PAIS Front Country S. FY20 RX (ADD-ON) | 2020 | NPS | 13,339 |
| 7 | Laguna 24 | 2024 | NPS | 12,385 |
| 8 | CUTOFF | 2010 | NPS | 10,280 |
| 9 | WF Unit 1 1/2 | 2015 | FWS | 7,657 |
| 10 | Big Canyon | 1990 | NPS | 7,432 |
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.