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 Terrell Hills responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 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 97% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
79 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $984K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | — | |
| 2024 | 27 | +80.0% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +18.5% |
* Well below Terrell Hills'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 Terrell Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | Undetermined | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Terrell Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Candle | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Terrell Hills departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Terrell Hills sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,316 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,175 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,120 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,085 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 973 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 866 | 40.8 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 | 78209 | 79 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Terrell Hills. 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.