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 Nocona responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $700K 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
473 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 89 | — | |
| 2022 | 119 | +33.7% | |
| 2023 | 79 | -33.6% | |
| 2024 | 83 | +5.1% | |
| 2025 | 103 | +24.1% |
For the 16 building fires Nocona departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 260 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 146 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 43 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 23 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 6.5% |
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 Nocona mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 37.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 45 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 29 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Molten, hot material | 23 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 19 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Nocona departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $145,360 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,930 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $86,150 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nocona sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 4 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 321,716 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 | 56,688 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41,000 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,419 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,824 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 21,525 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,200 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 18,000 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,444 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13,702 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8,000 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 8,000 | 29.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 76255 | 473 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Nocona. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Nocona.
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.