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 Fort Stockton responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Road freight or transport vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 92% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
36 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 5 | -28.6% | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 12 | +0.0% |
* Well below Fort Stockton'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 3 building fires Fort Stockton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 23.3% |
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 Fort Stockton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fort Stockton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fort Stockton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 391,032 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 87,401 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 83,995 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 51,400 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 47,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 23,000 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,640 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 8,000 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,220 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 5,451 | 46.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 79735 | 36 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Fort Stockton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fort Stockton.
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.