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 Leander responded to 335 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 50% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,043 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 391 | — | |
| 2022 | 390 | -0.3% | |
| 2023 | 527 | +35.1% | |
| 2024 | 400 | -24.1% | |
| 2025 | 335 | -16.2% |
For the 28 building fires Leander departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 679 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 | 175 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 83 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 74 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 53 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 49 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 36 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 34 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 22 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 119 | 17.5% |
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 Leander mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 354 | 52.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 39 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 33 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 28 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 26 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 22 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 14 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 94 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leander departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,944 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leander sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 79,466 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 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,180 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,700 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,887 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,106 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,792 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,480 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 42.0 mi |
Top 10 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 Leander. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leander.
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.