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 Gorman responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
215 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $108K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 63 | +53.7% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -34.9% | |
| 2024* | 24 | — | |
| 2025 | 46 | — |
* Well below Gorman'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 Gorman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 19.6% |
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 Gorman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 13.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gorman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 274,129 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 126,734 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,300 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,360 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 11,015 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,660 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,555 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,000 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,556 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,935 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 4,483 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,100 | 33.7 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 | 76454 | 214 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Gorman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gorman.
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.