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 Hereford responded to 101 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 58% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
631 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $598K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 112 | — | |
| 2022 | 161 | +43.8% | |
| 2023 | 146 | -9.3% | |
| 2024 | 111 | -24.0% | |
| 2025 | 101 | -9.0% |
For the 8 building fires Hereford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 202 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 | 67 | 33.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Wall assembly | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 18.3% |
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 Hereford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 129 | 63.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 5.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hereford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 3 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 198,513 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 28,800 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,310 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,803 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,000 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,280 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,000 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 11,475 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,600 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,493 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,120 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 14.3 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 Hereford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hereford.
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.