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 Brownsville responded to 711 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 51% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,660 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $16.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 701 | — | |
| 2022 | 495 | -29.4% | |
| 2023 | 988 | +99.6% | |
| 2024 | 765 | -22.6% | |
| 2025 | 711 | -7.1% |
For the 49 building fires Brownsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,693 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 | 477 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 249 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 225 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 116 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 84 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 84 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 55 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 52 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 31 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 22 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 298 | 17.6% |
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 Brownsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 928 | 54.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 113 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 107 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 93 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 81 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 55 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Match | 52 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 51 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 41 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 30 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 142 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brownsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 58% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brownsville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,845 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 435 | 26.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 425 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 4.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 370 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 330 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 47.2 mi |
Top 7 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 Brownsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brownsville.
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.