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 San Juan responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K 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 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
739 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $218K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | — | |
| 2023 | 236 | +140.8% | |
| 2024 | 173 | -26.7% | |
| 2025 | 146 | -15.6% |
* Well below San Juan'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 San Juan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | 86 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 18 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 13.3% |
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 San Juan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 134 | 74.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Juan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. San Juan sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 72,198 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,600 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,010 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,300 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,200 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 36.0 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 San Juan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in San Juan.
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.