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 Big Sandy responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
151 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $557K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +9.4% | |
| 2023 | 31 | -11.4% | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 45 | — |
* Well below Big Sandy'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 8 building fires Big Sandy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 27 | 62.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.0% |
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 Big Sandy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 74.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Big Sandy departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Big Sandy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,943 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41,050 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,341 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,324 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,314 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,672 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,556 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 24.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 538 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 511 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 450 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 28.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Big Sandy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Big Sandy.
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.