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.
TX
In 2025, fire departments serving Kerrville responded to 297 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,122 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 219 | — | |
| 2022 | 272 | +24.2% | |
| 2023 | 162 | -40.4% | |
| 2024 | 172 | +6.2% | |
| 2025 | 297 | +72.7% |
For the 12 building fires Kerrville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 314 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 | 81 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 39 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 19 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 18 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 21.3% |
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 Kerrville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 146 | 46.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kerrville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $128,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $55,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kerrville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 48,946 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,500 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,500 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 4,500 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 3,577 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,431 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 3,300 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 2,000 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 2,000 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,700 | 42.1 mi |
Top 7 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 Kerrville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kerrville.
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.