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.
TX
In 2025, fire departments serving Seabrook responded to 156 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Chemical spill or leak lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
769 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022* | 76 | — | |
| 2023 | 192 | — | |
| 2024 | 238 | +24.0% | |
| 2025 | 156 | -34.5% |
* Well below Seabrook'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 13 building fires Seabrook departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 127 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 | 22 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 17 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 29.1% |
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 Seabrook mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 37.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Seabrook departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Seabrook sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 125,969 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,169 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,976 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,668 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,260 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,150 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 5,021 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 4,856 | 45.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Seabrook. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Seabrook.
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.