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 Beaumont responded to 1,200 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $550K 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 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
6,815 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $27.5M cumulative property loss. 12 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,649 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,517 | -8.0% | |
| 2023 | 1,162 | -23.4% | |
| 2024 | 1,287 | +10.8% | |
| 2025 | 1,200 | -6.8% |
For the 111 building fires Beaumont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,843 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 329 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 217 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 170 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 164 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 144 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 67 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 59 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 53 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 49 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 47 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 544 | 29.5% |
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 Beaumont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 865 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 200 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 129 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 99 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 76 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 60 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 44 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 41 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 40 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 31 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 258 | 14.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beaumont departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 34% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $550,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $280,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $280,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beaumont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
80 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 9 | |
| 30-39 | 16 | |
| 40-49 | 13 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 209,128 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 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 12,154 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 11,218 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 11,210 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,912 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,000 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 8,874 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,358 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 7,433 | 37.1 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 Beaumont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Beaumont.
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.