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 Laguna Vista responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
57 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | — | |
| 2023 | 9 | -10.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | +111.1% | |
| 2025 | 14 | -26.3% |
* Well below Laguna Vista'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 1 building fires Laguna Vista departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Outside area, other | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Wall assembly | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.7% |
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 Laguna Vista mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laguna Vista sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,685 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 2.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 435 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 425 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 370 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 17.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 78578 | 57 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Laguna Vista. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Laguna Vista.
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.