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 Kyle responded to 346 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $255K 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 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,721 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 317 | — | |
| 2022 | 359 | +13.2% | |
| 2023 | 421 | +17.3% | |
| 2024 | 278 | -34.0% | |
| 2025 | 346 | +24.5% |
For the 22 building fires Kyle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 370 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 | 134 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 54 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 41 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 15 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 19.2% |
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 Kyle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 222 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 34 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kyle departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $255,160 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $58,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kyle sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 73,700 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 | 34,068 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,035 | 29.4 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 Kyle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kyle.
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.