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 Gladewater responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Gladewater's departments reported 20 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 124 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
619 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $553K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 169 | — | |
| 2022 | 201 | +18.9% | |
| 2023 | 181 | -10.0% | |
| 2024* | 48 | — | |
| 2025* | 20 | — |
* Well below Gladewater'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 4 building fires Gladewater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | Outside area, other | 40 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 31 | 22.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 13.9% |
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 Gladewater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 6.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gladewater sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 65,813 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 | 41,050 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,341 | 4.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,324 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,314 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,036 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,672 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,556 | 2.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,500 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,465 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,048 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 27.8 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 Gladewater. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gladewater.
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.