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 La Feria responded to 125 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
310 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $23K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022* | 17 | — | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 125 | — |
* Well below La Feria'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 4 building fires La Feria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 121 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 | 55 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 32 | 26.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 0.8% |
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 La Feria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 90 | 74.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 0.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Feria departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Feria sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 56,409 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,600 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 19.3 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 La Feria. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in La Feria.
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.