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 West Tawakoni responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
73 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $55K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022 | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 22 | +83.3% | |
| 2024 | 21 | -4.5% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -14.3% |
* Well below West Tawakoni'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 5 building fires West Tawakoni departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 20 | 54.1% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 2.7% |
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 West Tawakoni mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 67.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Match | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Tawakoni departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Tawakoni sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,999 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 960 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 450 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 440 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 325 | 27.9 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 | 75474 | 73 |
Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of West Tawakoni. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Tawakoni.
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.