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 Lamesa responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Lamesa's departments reported 59 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 99 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
493 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.3M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 142 | — | |
| 2022 | 148 | +4.2% | |
| 2023 | 138 | -6.8% | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025* | 59 | — |
* Well below Lamesa'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 0 building fires Lamesa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 303 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 | 89 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 46 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 29 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 17.2% |
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 Lamesa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 175 | 57.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 27 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 26 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lamesa departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lamesa sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 264,520 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 | 65,000 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 32,000 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,000 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,000 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,180 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10,000 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,500 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,924 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,067 | 48.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Lamesa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lamesa.
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.