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 Cedar Park responded to 251 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,395 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $15.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 276 | — | |
| 2022 | 227 | -17.8% | |
| 2023 | 342 | +50.7% | |
| 2024 | 299 | -12.6% | |
| 2025 | 251 | -16.1% |
For the 47 building fires Cedar Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 322 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 | 54 | 16.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 35 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 23 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 22 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 98 | 30.4% |
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 Cedar Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 158 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 21 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cedar Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 80% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $480,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cedar Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 71,657 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 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,700 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,106 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,480 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 19.0 mi |
Top 6 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 Cedar Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cedar Park.
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.