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 Brenham responded to 291 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 64% of all calls.
May peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,311 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 168 | — | |
| 2022 | 232 | +38.1% | |
| 2023 | 309 | +33.2% | |
| 2024 | 311 | +0.6% | |
| 2025 | 291 | -6.4% |
For the 28 building fires Brenham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 292 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 | Outside area, other | 40 | 13.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 35 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 33 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 30 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 20 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 64 | 21.9% |
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 Brenham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 49.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brenham departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $43,950 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brenham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 80,834 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 34,068 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,700 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 659 | 31.0 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 Brenham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brenham.
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.