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 Elgin responded to 310 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,272 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 270 | — | |
| 2022 | 228 | -15.6% | |
| 2023* | 82 | — | |
| 2024 | 382 | — | |
| 2025 | 310 | -18.8% |
* Well below Elgin'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 24 building fires Elgin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 280 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 | 87 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 67 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 10.0% |
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 Elgin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 172 | 61.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elgin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $65,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elgin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 73,059 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 34,068 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,700 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,480 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 13.9 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 Elgin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elgin.
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.