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 Weatherford responded to 804 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $415K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,123 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $8.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 617 | — | |
| 2022 | 864 | +40.0% | |
| 2023 | 1,091 | +26.3% | |
| 2024 | 747 | -31.5% | |
| 2025 | 804 | +7.6% |
For the 73 building fires Weatherford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,130 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 | 327 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 222 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 132 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 57 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 57 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 50 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 40 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 18 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 179 | 15.8% |
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 Weatherford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 646 | 57.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 53 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 48 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 44 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 41 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 40 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 33 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 24 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 18 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 153 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Weatherford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 67% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $415,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $225,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Weatherford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 272,270 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 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27,876 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,444 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,201 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,555 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,328 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,555 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6,000 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,556 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,728 | 45.8 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 Weatherford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Weatherford.
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.