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 Alpine responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
13 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $75K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | 11 | — |
* Well below Alpine'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 2 building fires Alpine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | 4 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Alpine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alpine departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alpine sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 868,663 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 314,444 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 87,401 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 83,995 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 47,000 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 43,241 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 41,000 | 2.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 23,000 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 19,444 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 19,043 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,380 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 15,130 | 44.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Alpine. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alpine.
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.