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 Inez responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $275K 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 79% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
190 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $989K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 62 | +121.4% | |
| 2023 | 54 | -12.9% | |
| 2024* | 17 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | — |
* Well below Inez'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 Inez departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 129 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 | 49 | 38.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 45 | 34.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 7.8% |
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 Inez mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Inez departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $28,854 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Inez sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,288 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,847 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3,980 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,548 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 2,344 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,990 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 1,568 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 28.5 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 Inez. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Inez.
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.