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 Panhandle responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Oil or other combustible liquid spill lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Nov peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
59 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $17K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 35 | — |
* Well below Panhandle'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 0 building fires Panhandle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Panhandle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Panhandle departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Panhandle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,565,299 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 479,549 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 427,696 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 135,000 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 75,530 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60,000 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44,686 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 38,104 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 28,800 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 24,310 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 23,827 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23,143 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 14.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Panhandle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Panhandle.
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.