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 Shoreacres responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 92% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $354K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024 | 18 | -14.3% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -27.8% |
* Well below Shoreacres'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 Shoreacres departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Shoreacres mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 75.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Match | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shoreacres sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 132,703 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 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,400 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 13,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,358 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,972 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,976 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,668 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,260 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,150 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 5,021 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,000 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 44.0 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 Shoreacres. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.