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 Orange responded to 410 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $896K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,247 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $8.6M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 322 | — | |
| 2022 | 394 | +22.4% | |
| 2023 | 604 | +53.3% | |
| 2024 | 517 | -14.4% | |
| 2025 | 410 | -20.7% |
For the 60 building fires Orange departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,020 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 | 291 | 28.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 237 | 23.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 89 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 75 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 46 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 30 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 20 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 15 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 165 | 16.2% |
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 Orange mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 646 | 63.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 47 | 4.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 43 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 34 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 27 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 23 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Match | 21 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 19 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 19 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 115 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orange departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $896,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orange sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
16 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 208,972 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,169 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 12,154 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 11,218 | 25.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 11,210 | 25.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,912 | 38.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,000 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 8,874 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,358 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 7,433 | 18.0 mi |
Top 8 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 Orange. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Orange.
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.