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 Georgetown responded to 573 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $182K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,390 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 629 | — | |
| 2022 | 832 | +32.3% | |
| 2023 | 881 | +5.9% | |
| 2024 | 475 | -46.1% | |
| 2025 | 573 | +20.6% |
For the 28 building fires Georgetown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 457 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 | 86 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 81 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 34 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 32 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 106 | 23.2% |
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 Georgetown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 206 | 45.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 38 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 37 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 28 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 17 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 12 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Georgetown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $181,852 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Georgetown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 81,810 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 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,180 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,700 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,887 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,106 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 37.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Georgetown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Georgetown.
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.