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 Ranger responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $35K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 94 | +51.6% | |
| 2023 | 52 | -44.7% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 58 | — |
* Well below Ranger'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 14 building fires Ranger departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 83 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 | 30 | 36.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 15.7% |
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 Ranger mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 59.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ranger sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 324,736 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 126,734 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,300 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27,876 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,360 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 11,015 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,660 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,555 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,500 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,556 | 18.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Ranger. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ranger.
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.