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 Caldwell responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
192 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022* | 9 | — | |
| 2023 | 30 | — | |
| 2024 | 45 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 98 | +117.8% |
* Well below Caldwell'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 4 building fires Caldwell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | Undetermined | 27 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Arena, assembly area w/ fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 17.7% |
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 Caldwell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 63.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Incendiary device | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Other static discharge | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Caldwell departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $17,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Caldwell 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 57,813 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 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,700 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 800 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 44.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Caldwell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Caldwell.
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.