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 Gainesville responded to 268 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,808 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 333 | — | |
| 2022 | 455 | +36.6% | |
| 2023 | 406 | -10.8% | |
| 2024 | 346 | -14.8% | |
| 2025 | 268 | -22.5% |
For the 16 building fires Gainesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 444 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 | 90 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 74 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 47 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 117 | 26.4% |
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 Gainesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 255 | 57.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 27 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 46 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gainesville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $32,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $28,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gainesville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 194,768 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 56,688 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,419 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 8,000 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,600 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,900 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,119 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,640 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 46.2 mi |
Top 8 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 Gainesville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gainesville.
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.