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 Dallas responded to 11,229 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
40,429 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $306.6M cumulative property loss. 11 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7,022 | — | |
| 2022 | 6,341 | -9.7% | |
| 2023 | 6,023 | -5.0% | |
| 2024 | 9,814 | +62.9% | |
| 2025 | 11,229 | +14.4% |
For the 640 building fires Dallas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9,501 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 | 3,701 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 985 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 722 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 616 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 403 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 328 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 238 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 160 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 159 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 157 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2,032 | 21.4% |
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 Dallas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5,738 | 60.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 814 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 575 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 484 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 440 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 233 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 168 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 157 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 125 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 107 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 660 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dallas departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000,000 | Special outside fire, other | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $969,710 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $931,210 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dallas sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
31 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,511 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,153 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,280 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1,100 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Smoking | 1,000 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 960 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 49.6 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 Dallas. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dallas.
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.