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 Tomball responded to 668 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 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,800 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 357 | — | |
| 2022 | 455 | +27.5% | |
| 2023 | 668 | +46.8% | |
| 2024 | 652 | -2.4% | |
| 2025 | 668 | +2.5% |
For the 66 building fires Tomball departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 761 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 | 123 | 16.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 119 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 95 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 91 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 37 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 32 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 31 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 23 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 21 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 18 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 171 | 22.5% |
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 Tomball mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 319 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 58 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 45 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 42 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 40 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 33 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 27 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 22 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 19 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 136 | 17.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tomball departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 71% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $202,756 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $161,143 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tomball sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 51,656 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 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,426 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,280 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,000 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,757 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,035 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,008 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 37.6 mi |
Top 8 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 Tomball. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tomball.
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.