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 Bardwell responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $49K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +117.6% | |
| 2023 | 25 | -32.4% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | — |
* Well below Bardwell'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 1 building fires Bardwell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 9 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Multiple areas | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% |
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 Bardwell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bardwell departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bardwell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,816 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 | 6,000 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,000 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2,350 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,280 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1,100 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 958 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 43.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Bardwell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bardwell.
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.