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 Richmond responded to 428 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,533 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 475 | — | |
| 2022 | 505 | +6.3% | |
| 2023 | 476 | -5.7% | |
| 2024 | 649 | +36.3% | |
| 2025 | 428 | -34.1% |
For the 69 building fires Richmond departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 749 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 | 205 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 101 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 62 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 57 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 49 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 47 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 28 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 23 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 16 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 14 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 147 | 19.6% |
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 Richmond mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 432 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 42 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 41 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 35 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 30 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 19 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 15 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 90 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richmond departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 69% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $190,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $112,566 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richmond sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,103 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,028 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,982 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,550 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,300 | 43.4 mi |
Top 10 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 Richmond. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Richmond.
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.