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 Decatur responded to 201 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,573 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $13.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 416 | — | |
| 2022 | 439 | +5.5% | |
| 2023 | 301 | -31.4% | |
| 2024 | 216 | -28.2% | |
| 2025 | 201 | -6.9% |
For the 21 building fires Decatur departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 416 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 119 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 57 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 53 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 33 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 31 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 17.1% |
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 Decatur mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 195 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 27 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 25 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 22 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 59 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Decatur departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $48,690 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $27,022 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $17,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Decatur sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 187,603 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 | 41,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,419 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,444 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13,702 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,201 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,555 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,328 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,915 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,900 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,728 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 30.8 mi |
Top 9 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 Decatur. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Decatur.
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.