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 Isabel responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 16 | — | |
| 2025 | 47 | +193.8% |
* Well below Port Isabel'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 3 building fires Port Isabel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Isabel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Isabel departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Isabel sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,541 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 435 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 425 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 370 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 255 | 43.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Isabel. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Isabel.
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.