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 Smiley responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
46 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | -64.7% | |
| 2024* | 2 | — | |
| 2025 | 21 | — |
* Well below Smiley'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 1 building fires Smiley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 12 | 41.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Smiley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Smiley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,800 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,143 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 973 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 866 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 28.1 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 | 78159 | 46 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Smiley. 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.