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 Boerne responded to 498 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,498 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $18.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 375 | — | |
| 2022 | 497 | +32.5% | |
| 2023 | 451 | -9.3% | |
| 2024 | 677 | +50.1% | |
| 2025 | 498 | -26.4% |
For the 38 building fires Boerne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 286 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 | 58 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 38 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 93 | 32.5% |
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 Boerne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 33.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 34 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 23 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 14.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boerne departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boerne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
18 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 7 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,020 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Smoking | 3,577 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 3,300 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,120 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,035 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 36.0 mi |
Top 8 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 Boerne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Boerne.
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.