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 Anahuac responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
181 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $343K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 93 | — | |
| 2024 | 57 | -38.7% | |
| 2025 | 22 | -61.4% |
* Well below Anahuac'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 5 building fires Anahuac departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 11 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.1% |
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 Anahuac mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 59.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Anahuac departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Anahuac sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 168,033 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,169 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,912 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,000 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,358 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,670 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 6,160 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 5,978 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,976 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,668 | 26.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Anahuac. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Anahuac.
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.