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 Gonzales responded to 214 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
968 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $622K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 138 | — | |
| 2022 | 274 | +98.6% | |
| 2023 | 158 | -42.3% | |
| 2024 | 184 | +16.5% | |
| 2025 | 214 | +16.3% |
For the 12 building fires Gonzales departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 386 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 | 89 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 71 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 59 | 15.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 40 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 62 | 16.1% |
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 Gonzales mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 255 | 66.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gonzales departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,540 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gonzales sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,395 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 | 6,030 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,700 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 973 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 866 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 42.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Gonzales. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gonzales.
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.