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 Kempner responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
491 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $597K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 117 | — | |
| 2022 | 121 | +3.4% | |
| 2023 | 78 | -35.5% | |
| 2024 | 74 | -5.1% | |
| 2025 | 101 | +36.5% |
For the 11 building fires Kempner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 177 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 | 27.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 23 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 15.3% |
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 Kempner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 106 | 59.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kempner departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kempner sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,612 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,213 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,180 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,700 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,887 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,800 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,106 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,792 | 36.5 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 Kempner. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kempner.
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.