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 Midland responded to 902 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,334 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $22.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 828 | — | |
| 2022 | 879 | +6.2% | |
| 2023 | 955 | +8.6% | |
| 2024 | 770 | -19.4% | |
| 2025 | 902 | +17.1% |
For the 61 building fires Midland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,324 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 | 318 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 133 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 126 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 106 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 78 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 69 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 55 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 44 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 29 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 24 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 342 | 25.8% |
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 Midland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 661 | 49.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 99 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 98 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 68 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 65 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 61 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 35 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 21 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 21 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 20 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 175 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Midland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $180,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Midland 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 356,290 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 | 106,027 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65,000 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,000 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 16,500 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,479 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,180 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,500 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,924 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6,000 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 5,500 | 14.0 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 Midland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Midland.
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.