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 Santa Rosa responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
124 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $27K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | — | |
| 2023* | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 39 | — | |
| 2025 | 37 | -5.1% |
* Well below Santa Rosa'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 0 building fires Santa Rosa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 62 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 | 17 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 25.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 25.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 1.6% |
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 Santa Rosa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 58.1% | |
| 2 | Match | 9 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 1.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Santa Rosa departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Santa Rosa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 64,733 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 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,500 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 29.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 78593 | 124 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Santa Rosa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Santa Rosa.
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.