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 Spring responded to 1,402 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $700K building blaze. 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 60% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
8,395 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $38.6M cumulative property loss. 7 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,318 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,465 | +11.2% | |
| 2023 | 1,917 | +30.9% | |
| 2024 | 2,293 | +19.6% | |
| 2025 | 1,402 | -38.9% |
For the 221 building fires Spring departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,429 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 | 401 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 355 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 323 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 207 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 162 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 128 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 103 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 87 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 74 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 64 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 525 | 21.6% |
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 Spring mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 714 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 222 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 194 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 129 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 128 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 126 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 101 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 97 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 93 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 89 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 536 | 22.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spring departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 41% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Aircraft fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spring sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
53 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 15 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 12 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 7 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 50,349 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 19,960 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 14.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 18.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 1,088 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 612 | 46.4 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 Spring. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Spring.
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.