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 Port Arthur responded to 428 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,164 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $17.1M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 600 | — | |
| 2022 | 665 | +10.8% | |
| 2023 | 714 | +7.4% | |
| 2024 | 757 | +6.0% | |
| 2025 | 428 | -43.5% |
For the 51 building fires Port Arthur departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,667 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 | 391 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 171 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 169 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 158 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 135 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 80 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 68 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 42 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 38 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 28 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 387 | 23.2% |
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 Port Arthur mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,004 | 60.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 119 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 94 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 93 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 93 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 36 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 34 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 32 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 18 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 120 | 7.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Arthur departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $115,897 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $86,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $57,550 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $55,630 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Arthur sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
39 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 11 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 6 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 207,857 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 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 12,154 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 11,218 | 21.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 11,210 | 25.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,912 | 18.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,000 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 8,874 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,358 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 7,433 | 23.3 mi |
Top 9 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 Port Arthur. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Arthur.
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.