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 Channelview responded to 368 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,907 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $35.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 284 | — | |
| 2022 | 324 | +14.1% | |
| 2023 | 425 | +31.2% | |
| 2024 | 506 | +19.1% | |
| 2025 | 368 | -27.3% |
For the 70 building fires Channelview departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 563 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 | 223 | 39.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 64 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 59 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 24 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 14 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 13 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 121 | 21.5% |
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 Channelview mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 328 | 58.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 65 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 22 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 20 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Match | 9 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 52 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Channelview departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $210,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Channelview sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,250 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,976 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 5,021 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,028 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,016 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,550 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 2,254 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 2,250 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,116 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,873 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 34.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Channelview. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Channelview.
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.