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 Spearman responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $360K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cultivated grain or crop fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
52 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $430K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | -45.5% |
* Well below Spearman'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 Spearman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 8 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 2.9% |
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 Spearman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 17.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spearman departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $360,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spearman sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,139,859 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 479,549 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 318,156 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44,686 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 38,104 | 34.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29,189 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20,000 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 20,000 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 19,200 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 18,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,520 | 38.2 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 | 79081 | 52 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Spearman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Spearman.
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.