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 Sachse responded to 113 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 62% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
646 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 153 | — | |
| 2022 | 146 | -4.6% | |
| 2023* | 13 | — | |
| 2024 | 221 | — | |
| 2025 | 113 | -48.9% |
* Well below Sachse'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 Sachse departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 148 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 | 31 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 25.7% |
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 Sachse mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 28.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sachse departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $300 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sachse sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,768 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,700 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,280 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 960 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 508 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 49.5 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 Sachse. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sachse.
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.