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 Grand Prairie responded to 872 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M 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.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
5,398 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $31.9M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,049 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,129 | +7.6% | |
| 2023 | 1,144 | +1.3% | |
| 2024 | 1,204 | +5.2% | |
| 2025 | 872 | -27.6% |
For the 78 building fires Grand Prairie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,766 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 | 367 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 240 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 160 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 119 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 116 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 102 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 72 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 52 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 43 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 39 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 456 | 25.8% |
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 Grand Prairie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 960 | 54.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 153 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 124 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 106 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 63 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 55 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 41 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 32 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 27 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 24 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 181 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Grand Prairie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 62% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $575,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $233,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $140,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $105,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grand Prairie sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
61 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 22 | |
| 40-49 | 7 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,521 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,153 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,280 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1,100 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Smoking | 1,000 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 36.3 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 Grand Prairie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Grand Prairie.
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.