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 Brownwood responded to 245 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
987 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 244 | — | |
| 2023 | 215 | -11.9% | |
| 2024 | 245 | +14.0% | |
| 2025 | 245 | +0.0% |
* Well below Brownwood'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 22 building fires Brownwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 185 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 | 29 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 20 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 29.7% |
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 Brownwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 71 | 38.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 21 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brownwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brownwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 141,213 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,300 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 13,343 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,892 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9,813 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,660 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,623 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,213 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,205 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,100 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,040 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Other causes | 3,507 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,409 | 45.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Brownwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brownwood.
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.