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 Humble responded to 723 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $564K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,923 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $27.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 675 | — | |
| 2022 | 768 | +13.8% | |
| 2023 | 823 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | 934 | +13.5% | |
| 2025 | 723 | -22.6% |
For the 118 building fires Humble departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,163 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 | 227 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 183 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 115 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 77 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 72 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 64 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 43 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 34 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 25 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 23 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 300 | 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 Humble mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 520 | 44.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 113 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 98 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 58 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 50 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 47 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 42 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 40 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 26 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 25 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 144 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Humble departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 43% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $564,400 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $261,544 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $260,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Humble sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
23 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 45,249 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 15.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 1,088 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 800 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 612 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 560 | 45.7 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 Humble. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Humble.
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.