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 Balcones Heights responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 61% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
100 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $150K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023* | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 27 | — | |
| 2025 | 56 | +107.4% |
* Well below Balcones Heights'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 3 building fires Balcones Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 2 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 26.9% |
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 Balcones Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Balcones Heights departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Balcones Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,316 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,120 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,085 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 973 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 866 | 45.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Balcones Heights. 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.