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 Carthage responded to 124 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 61% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
811 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $408K cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 199 | +49.6% | |
| 2023 | 199 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 156 | -21.6% | |
| 2025 | 124 | -20.5% |
For the 8 building fires Carthage departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 345 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 | 66 | 19.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 35 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 27 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 17 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 13 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 80 | 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 Carthage mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 114 | 33.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 52 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 32 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 12 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 51 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carthage departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,700 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carthage sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
18 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 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 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. 34,347 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 | 6,550 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,000 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,341 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,378 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,324 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,036 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,672 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,556 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,500 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,465 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,048 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 28.1 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 | 75633 | 811 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Carthage. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Carthage.
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.