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 Hondo responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 7 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | — | |
| 2025 | 127 | +535.0% |
* Well below Hondo'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 7 building fires Hondo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.8% |
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 Hondo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hondo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hondo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,819 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Smoking | 3,577 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 3,300 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,120 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,085 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 940 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 4.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 775 | 29.1 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 | 78861 | 154 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Hondo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hondo.
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.