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 Little Elm responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Little Elm's departments reported 59 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 130 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 81% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
651 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 221 | — | |
| 2023 | 168 | -24.0% | |
| 2024 | 153 | -8.9% | |
| 2025* | 59 | — |
* Well below Little Elm'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 11 building fires Little Elm departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | 30 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 18.7% |
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 Little Elm mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 59.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 11.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Little Elm departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $55,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Little Elm sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 68,825 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,419 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,600 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,153 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,900 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,700 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 1,300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Smoking | 1,000 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 28.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Little Elm. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Little Elm.
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.