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 Comfort responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
375 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $140K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 110 | — | |
| 2023 | 73 | -33.6% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -2.7% | |
| 2025 | 95 | +33.8% |
* Well below Comfort'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 9 building fires Comfort departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 75 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 | 23 | 30.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 20 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 8.0% |
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 Comfort mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Comfort departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Comfort sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 39,737 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,500 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 3,577 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,431 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 3,300 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 2,000 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,700 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,120 | 39.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Comfort. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Comfort.
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.