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 Corpus Christi responded to 2,194 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
12,309 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $61.5M cumulative property loss. 16 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,532 | — | |
| 2022 | 2,827 | +11.7% | |
| 2023 | 2,424 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 2,332 | -3.8% | |
| 2025 | 2,194 | -5.9% |
For the 228 building fires Corpus Christi departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 3,850 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 | Outside area, other | 705 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 531 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 444 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 253 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 187 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 163 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 159 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 107 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 101 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 90 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1,110 | 28.8% |
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 Corpus Christi mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,849 | 48.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 337 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 284 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 244 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 162 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 132 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 131 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 83 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 81 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 77 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 470 | 12.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Corpus Christi departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 32% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $370,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $285,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $230,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $205,708 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Corpus Christi sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
120 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 | 5 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 19 | |
| 40-49 | 16 | |
| 50-59 | 18 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 92,661 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 14,240 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 12,998 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 10,003 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,157 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 5,933 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,934 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 4,517 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3,980 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 27.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Corpus Christi. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Corpus Christi.
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.