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 Mission responded to 456 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 38% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,067 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 426 | — | |
| 2022 | 789 | +85.2% | |
| 2023 | 897 | +13.7% | |
| 2024 | 499 | -44.4% | |
| 2025 | 456 | -8.6% |
For the 21 building fires Mission departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,214 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 | 683 | 56.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 183 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 72 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 41 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 31 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 10 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 7 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 108 | 8.9% |
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 Mission mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 957 | 78.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 33 | 2.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 32 | 2.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 14 | 1.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 14 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Match | 11 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 73 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mission departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 67% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $22,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mission sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
20 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 81,548 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,600 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,400 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,010 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,300 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,200 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 29.3 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 Mission. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mission.
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.