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 Lockhart responded to 168 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
732 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 154 | +28.3% | |
| 2023 | 139 | -9.7% | |
| 2024 | 151 | +8.6% | |
| 2025 | 168 | +11.3% |
For the 9 building fires Lockhart departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 220 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 | 35 | 15.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 33 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 20.5% |
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 Lockhart mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 134 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lockhart departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $7,500 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lockhart sits above 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 72,700 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 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,035 | 43.5 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 Lockhart. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lockhart.
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.