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 Denison responded to 482 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $465K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,194 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $11.2M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 394 | — | |
| 2022 | 512 | +29.9% | |
| 2023 | 369 | -27.9% | |
| 2024 | 437 | +18.4% | |
| 2025 | 482 | +10.3% |
For the 28 building fires Denison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 834 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 | 253 | 30.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 182 | 21.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 49 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 43 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 41 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 38 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 20 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 145 | 17.4% |
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 Denison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 523 | 62.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 59 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 37 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 28 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 27 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Match | 16 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 10 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 76 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Denison departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $465,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $177,360 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Denison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,024 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 8,000 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,600 | 22.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,119 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,640 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,584 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,140 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,060 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,940 | 46.2 mi |
Top 7 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 Denison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Denison.
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.