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 Somerville responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 92% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
35 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $41K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 10 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 13 | +30.0% |
* Well below Somerville'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 2 building fires Somerville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | 7 | 38.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Somerville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Somerville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Somerville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 82,508 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 34,068 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,085 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,700 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 1,804 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 800 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 40.6 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 Somerville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Somerville.
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.