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.
TX
In 2025, fire departments serving East Bernard responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K 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 67% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
190 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $839K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | — | |
| 2023 | 52 | +62.5% | |
| 2024 | 46 | -11.5% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -15.2% |
* Well below East Bernard'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 2 building fires East Bernard departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 83 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 | 26 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 19.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 12.0% |
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 East Bernard mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 38.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Bernard departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Bernard sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 25,691 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 659 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 560 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 12.6 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 East Bernard. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in East Bernard.
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.