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 Cameron responded to 88 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 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 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
459 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 112 | — | |
| 2022 | 111 | -0.9% | |
| 2023* | 52 | — | |
| 2024 | 96 | — | |
| 2025 | 88 | -8.3% |
* Well below Cameron'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 2 building fires Cameron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | 33 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 26 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 21 | 15.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 13.4% |
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 Cameron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 48.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Incendiary device | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cameron departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cameron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,825 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 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 800 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 525 | 42.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 76520 | 459 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Cameron. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cameron.
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.