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 Missouri City responded to 415 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 69% of all calls.
May peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,281 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $15.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 335 | — | |
| 2022 | 505 | +50.7% | |
| 2023 | 469 | -7.1% | |
| 2024 | 557 | +18.8% | |
| 2025 | 415 | -25.5% |
For the 78 building fires Missouri City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 461 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 93 | 20.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 62 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 45 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 30 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 27 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 134 | 29.1% |
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 Missouri City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 261 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 44 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 23 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Candle | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Missouri City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,187,415 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $387,785 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $291,311 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Missouri City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
19 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,066 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 | 6,426 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,028 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,741 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,982 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,550 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 21.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,300 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,210 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 49.3 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 Missouri City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Missouri City.
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.