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 Sunset Valley responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
95 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $58K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | +4.2% | |
| 2024 | 18 | -28.0% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +0.0% |
* Well below Sunset Valley'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 Sunset Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 5.9% |
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 Sunset Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sunset Valley departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sunset Valley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 74,663 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 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,030 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,582 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,491 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,480 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,455 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,400 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 23.2 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 Sunset Valley. 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.