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 Strawn responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K 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 61% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 49 | +157.9% | |
| 2024* | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 31 | — |
* Well below Strawn'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 Strawn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Strawn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Strawn departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,200 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Strawn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 333,898 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 126,734 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,300 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27,876 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,360 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,201 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 11,015 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,555 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,555 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,500 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,000 | 23.7 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 Strawn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Strawn.
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.