In 2025, fire departments across New Mexico responded to 20,825 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Hermits Peak wildfire that burned 341,734 acres in 2022.
New Mexico ranks #11 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Mar peaks across the window; Oct dips.
118,716 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21,060 | |
| 2022 | 23,150 | |
| 2023 | 26,129 | |
| 2024 | 27,552 | |
| 2025 | 20,825 |
For the 1,313 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 21,476 | 9,169 / 12,307 | 1,821,154 | |
| 2 | Natural (lightning) | 21,162 | 20,464 / 698 | 3,836,600 | |
| 3 | Arson / incendiarism | 7,027 | 1,224 / 5,803 | 182,075 | |
| 4 | Debris & open burning | 5,323 | 5,323 / 0 | 260,199 | |
| 5 | Equipment & vehicle use | 4,471 | 2,082 / 2,389 | 430,329 | |
| 6 | Recreation & ceremony | 2,653 | 2,653 / 0 | 374,340 | |
| 7 | Smoking | 891 | 891 / 0 | 48,118 | |
| 8 | Power generation / utility | 625 | 625 / 0 | 344,914 | |
| 9 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 461 | 461 / 0 | 14,280 | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 301 | 301 / 0 | 14,896 | |
| 11 | Other causes | 227 | 163 / 64 | 11,096 | |
| 12 | Railroad operations | 199 | 199 / 0 | 64,068 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 48,771 | $6.0M | 7 | |
| 2 | Rubbish / refuse | 30,369 | $1.9M | 3 | |
| 3 | Building fires | 24,295 | $134.2M | 98 | |
| 4 | Wildland fires | 16,220 | $4.2M | 4 | |
| 5 | Gas leaks | 13,713 | $114K | 0 | |
| 6 | Electrical / wiring | 7,479 | $525K | 0 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 6,604 | $166.6M | 32 | |
| 8 | Arson | 2,902 | $56.1M | 0 | |
| 9 | Cooking-related | 1,633 | $126K | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 79% of New Mexico's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000,000 | ESPANOLA | Fire, other | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $6,000,000 | Eunice | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $2,500,000 | LOS LUNAS | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | abaytas | Chemical hazard (no spill or leak) | Major |
| 5 | $500,000 | Deming | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $350,000 | Farmington | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $350,000 | Socorro | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $311,491 | Albuquerque | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $302,000 | Rio Rancho | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $301,000 | High Rolls | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare New Mexico apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernalillo County | 7,954 | 639,086 |
| 2 | San Juan County | 1,437 | 102,979 |
| 3 | Doña Ana County | 1,372 | 185,413 |
| 4 | Eddy County | 1,188 | 50,986 |
| 5 | Valencia County | 1,053 | 64,800 |
| 6 | Santa Fe County | 793 | 138,288 |
| 7 | Sandoval County | 761 | 140,697 |
| 8 | Lea County | 671 | 63,606 |
| 9 | McKinley County | 621 | 52,544 |
| 10 | Otero County | 522 | 45,783 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddy County | 23.30 | 1,188 | 50,986 | |
| 2 | Valencia County | 16.25 | 1,053 | 64,800 | |
| 3 | San Juan County | 13.95 | 1,437 | 102,979 | |
| 4 | Bernalillo County | 12.45 | 7,954 | 639,086 | |
| 5 | McKinley County | 11.82 | 621 | 52,544 | |
| 6 | Lea County | 10.55 | 671 | 63,606 | |
| 7 | Doña Ana County | 7.40 | 1,372 | 185,413 | |
| 8 | Santa Fe County | 5.73 | 793 | 138,288 | |
| 9 | Chaves County | 5.69 | 290 | 50,962 | |
| 10 | Sandoval County | 5.41 | 761 | 140,697 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | 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 |
1013 perimeters and 2,836,345 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 1 | 35 | |
| 1920s | 2 | 140 | |
| 1940s | 1 | 420 | |
| 1960s | 2 | 1,523 | |
| 1970s | 74 | 11,600 | |
| 1980s | 72 | 18,441 | |
| 1990s | 106 | 73,471 | |
| 2000s | 114 | 301,270 | |
| 2010s | 346 | 905,604 | |
| 2020s | 295 | 1,523,841 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 13,124 | |
| 2000s | 17,080 | |
| 2010s | 11,953 | |
| 2020s | 1,421 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 43,578 ignitions total.
459 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 19 | |
| 10-19 | 29 | |
| 20-29 | 86 | |
| 30-39 | 90 | |
| 40-49 | 55 | |
| 50-59 | 55 | |
| 60-69 | 53 | |
| 70-79 | 44 | |
| 80+ | 23 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.