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 Aurora responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Aurora's departments reported 17 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 31 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Jun peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
155 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $847K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +19.4% | |
| 2023 | 46 | +24.3% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -47.8% | |
| 2025* | 17 | — |
* Well below Aurora'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 0 building fires Aurora departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 32.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.5% |
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 Aurora mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 52.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aurora sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 136,386 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,419 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,444 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,201 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,555 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,328 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,915 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,900 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,728 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,654 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 44.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 76078 | 155 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Aurora. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.