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 College Station responded to 587 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $845K 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 46% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,104 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $10.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 597 | — | |
| 2022 | 712 | +19.3% | |
| 2023 | 671 | -5.8% | |
| 2024 | 537 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 587 | +9.3% |
For the 30 building fires College Station departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 614 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 | 96 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 74 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 45 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 42 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 33 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 24 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 22 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 20 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 19 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 199 | 32.4% |
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 College Station mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 215 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 67 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 54 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 54 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 36 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 23 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 21 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 15 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 15 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 102 | 16.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by College Station departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $844,877 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $90,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. College Station sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
42 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 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 8 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,591 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,689 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,047 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,035 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,008 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 755 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 29.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 35.5 mi |
Top 8 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 College Station. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in College Station.
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.