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 Lampasas responded to 130 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 58% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
597 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022* | 69 | — | |
| 2023 | 149 | — | |
| 2024 | 124 | -16.8% | |
| 2025 | 130 | +4.8% |
* Well below Lampasas'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 9 building fires Lampasas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 174 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 | 37 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 24 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 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 Lampasas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 54.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 11 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lampasas departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $140,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lampasas sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 77,262 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,892 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,213 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,180 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,700 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Other causes | 3,507 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,409 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,887 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,800 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,106 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 2,079 | 46.1 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 Lampasas. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lampasas.
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.