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 Buda responded to 287 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,001 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 123 | — | |
| 2023 | 330 | +168.3% | |
| 2024 | 237 | -28.2% | |
| 2025 | 287 | +21.1% |
* Well below Buda'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 Buda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 168 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 | 49 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 39 | 23.2% |
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 Buda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 80 | 47.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 20 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Buda departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $120,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Buda sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 75,863 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 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,480 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 47.8 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 Buda. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Buda.
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.