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 Honey Grove responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
90 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $88K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022* | 9 | — | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 39 | — | |
| 2025 | 34 | -12.8% |
* Well below Honey Grove'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 0 building fires Honey Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Honey Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Honey Grove departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Honey Grove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,346 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,800 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,700 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,680 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,602 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,000 | 34.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Honey Grove. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Honey Grove.
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.