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 Katy responded to 1,111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.4M 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 58% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
6,141 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $28.1M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,115 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,512 | +35.6% | |
| 2023 | 1,142 | -24.5% | |
| 2024 | 1,261 | +10.4% | |
| 2025 | 1,111 | -11.9% |
For the 132 building fires Katy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,649 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 | 270 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 237 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 159 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 156 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 135 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 77 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 66 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 59 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Other | 48 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 40 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 402 | 24.4% |
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 Katy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 597 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 156 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 123 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 102 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 85 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 77 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 72 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 56 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 51 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 41 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 289 | 17.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Katy departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 54% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $423,680 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $370,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $300,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $300,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Katy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
18 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 48,406 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 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 659 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 560 | 45.8 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 Katy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Katy.
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.