Albuquerque’s Fire and Rescue department is one of the busiest municipal fire agencies in the country. While many of the more than 108,000 calls for assistance the department handled in 2022 were for medical and non-fire related calls, the department is seeing a steady increase in calls to respond to vacant building fires over the past year.
According to AFR data provided to the City Council, the department responded to 1,144 fire calls in November 2023, the most recent month where data is available. That’s up 12-percent over the same month in 2022.
One of those locations in the 900 block of Cagua St NE in the Fair West neighborhood was the scene of a fire in December 2023. Late Monday night, firefighters responded again. This time the building was fully engulfed and firefighters brought along cameras to document their assault from inside the burning building.
“Engine 11 arrived on scene and reported a well involved structure with heavy fire showing. The fire had spread to tree’s surrounding the house and was threatening neighboring exposures. The fire was brought under control within 10 minutes of their arrival,” AFR reported on social media after the event.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Watch the video
See the video shared on AFR’s Facebook page.