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 Jacksonville responded to 140 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 74% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
420 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $747K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 167 | — | |
| 2022* | 16 | — | |
| 2023* | 18 | — | |
| 2024 | 79 | — | |
| 2025 | 140 | +77.2% |
* Well below Jacksonville'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 3 building fires Jacksonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 17 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 15.1% |
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 Jacksonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 54.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jacksonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $110,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jacksonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 37,805 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,550 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4,931 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,700 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,341 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,314 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,783 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,672 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,556 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,500 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,400 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,156 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 24.1 mi |
Top 6 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 Jacksonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jacksonville.
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.