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 Ozona responded to 52 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 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
277 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | -36.2% | |
| 2023 | 57 | +11.8% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -35.1% | |
| 2025 | 52 | +40.5% |
For the 4 building fires Ozona departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 172 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 | Outside area, other | 37 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 26 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 15.1% |
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 Ozona mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 50 | 29.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 2.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ozona sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 534,849 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 | 175,000 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98,168 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 63,427 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 30,814 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,958 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22,958 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,000 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 14,987 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 11,348 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6,983 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6,006 | 17.3 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 | 76943 | 277 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Ozona. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ozona.
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.