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 Alton responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
419 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $394K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 112 | — | |
| 2023 | 142 | +26.8% | |
| 2024 | 62 | -56.3% | |
| 2025 | 73 | +17.7% |
* Well below Alton'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 6 building fires Alton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | 105 | 77.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 6 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 2.2% |
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 Alton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 119 | 88.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 0.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alton departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 90,048 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,600 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8,000 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,400 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,010 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,300 | 36.5 mi |
Top 9 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 Alton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alton.
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.