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 Oakwood responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
234 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $355K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 65 | — | |
| 2023 | 75 | +15.4% | |
| 2024* | 11 | — | |
| 2025 | 77 | — |
* Well below Oakwood's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 9 building fires Oakwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | 7 | 38.9% | |
| 2 | Closet | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Oakwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,871 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 | 4,931 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,689 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,700 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2,350 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,314 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,783 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,400 | 11.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 764 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 607 | 26.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 25.9 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 Oakwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oakwood.
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.