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 Gregory responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | +15.8% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -45.5% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Gregory'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 2 building fires Gregory departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 4 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Gregory mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gregory departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gregory sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 74,660 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 12,998 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 10,003 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,847 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,934 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 4,517 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3,980 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,548 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 44.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Gregory. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gregory.
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.