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 Amarillo responded to 2,632 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
10,897 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $23.3M cumulative property loss. 10 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,460 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,966 | +34.7% | |
| 2023 | 2,067 | +5.1% | |
| 2024 | 2,772 | +34.1% | |
| 2025 | 2,632 | -5.1% |
For the 193 building fires Amarillo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,039 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 | 586 | 28.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 279 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 132 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 99 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 69 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 65 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 64 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 62 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 60 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 52 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 571 | 28.0% |
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 Amarillo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,401 | 68.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 83 | 4.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 81 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 60 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 48 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 45 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 36 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 36 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 27 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 193 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Amarillo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 24% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $185,828 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $183,418 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $140,583 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $134,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Amarillo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
42 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 987,249 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 479,549 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 75,530 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60,000 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44,686 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 28,800 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,310 | 5.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 23,827 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20,000 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20,000 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 20,000 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,803 | 17.1 mi |
Top 10 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 Amarillo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Amarillo.
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.