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.
TX
In 2025, fire departments serving Placedo responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 74% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
142 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $125K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | — | |
| 2023 | 47 | +17.5% | |
| 2024* | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | — |
* Well below Placedo'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 5 building fires Placedo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 72 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 | 28 | 38.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 34.7% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 4.2% |
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 Placedo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 52.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Placedo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Placedo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,288 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,847 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3,980 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,548 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 2,344 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,990 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 1,568 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 20.8 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 Placedo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Placedo.
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.