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 Rosenberg responded to 405 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $367K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,334 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $24.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 434 | — | |
| 2022 | 469 | +8.1% | |
| 2023 | 491 | +4.7% | |
| 2024 | 535 | +9.0% | |
| 2025 | 405 | -24.3% |
For the 86 building fires Rosenberg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 703 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 | 109 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 102 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 92 | 13.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 83 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 69 | 9.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 35 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 26 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 17 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 15 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 13 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 142 | 20.2% |
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 Rosenberg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 417 | 59.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 39 | 5.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 38 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 38 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 32 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Match | 14 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 72 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rosenberg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $367,165 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rosenberg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 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. 40,343 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,028 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,982 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 2,550 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,300 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,210 | 43.9 mi |
Top 6 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 Rosenberg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rosenberg.
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.