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 Sherman responded to 476 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $395K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,384 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $12.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 454 | — | |
| 2022 | 495 | +9.0% | |
| 2023 | 496 | +0.2% | |
| 2024 | 463 | -6.7% | |
| 2025 | 476 | +2.8% |
For the 29 building fires Sherman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 964 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 | 216 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 110 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 98 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 95 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 62 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 59 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 47 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 21 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 20 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 217 | 22.5% |
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 Sherman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 491 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 51 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 47 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 43 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 42 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 41 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 38 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 29 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 25 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 137 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sherman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 71% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $395,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $228,406 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sherman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,590 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,600 | 22.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,119 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,640 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,584 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,140 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,940 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,700 | 7.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,680 | 29.6 mi |
Top 10 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 Sherman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sherman.
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.