Ross Fire in North Texas Reaches 100% Containment After 90,000-Acre Run
The Ross Fire near Palo Pinto, Texas burned about 90,000 acres and destroyed at least 167 structures before crews fully contained it on Sept. 16.
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In 2025, fire departments serving Alba responded to 61 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $501K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | — | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 45 | — | |
| 2025 | 61 | +35.6% |
* Well below Alba's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Alba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 12.1% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Alba mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alba departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alba sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,926 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,341 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,324 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,556 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 661 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 538 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 511 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 450 | 15.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Alba. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alba.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.