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 Saginaw responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 47% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
463 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022* | 41 | — | |
| 2023 | 95 | — | |
| 2024 | 133 | +40.0% | |
| 2025 | 115 | -13.5% |
* Well below Saginaw'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 6 building fires Saginaw departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 30.0% |
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 Saginaw mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 54 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Candle | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saginaw departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $52,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $17,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saginaw sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 71,345 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,444 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,201 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,190 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,153 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 7.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,900 | 31.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Saginaw. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Saginaw.
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.