Ross Fire

Palo Pinto County, Texas · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Sep 15, 2026 (about 12 hours ago)

First reported about 3 weeks ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	90,048 acres Sep 2, 7:00 PM	90,400 acres Sep 16, 4:00 AM +352 acres was 90,048 acres · Sep 2, 7:00 PM	+352 acres in 13 days
Containment	91% Sep 15, 8:00 AM	93% Sep 16, 4:00 AM +2 percent was 91% · Sep 15, 8:00 AM	+2 percent in about 20 hours
Crew size	226 Sep 15, 4:00 PM	187 Sep 16, 4:00 AM −39 was 226 · Sep 15, 4:00 PM	−39 in about 12 hours
Money spent	—	$0 Sep 16, 4:00 AM	—

Ross Fire summary

The Ross Fire is a wildfire near Palo Pinto County, Texas. It has burned about 90,400 acres (about 68,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 93% of its edge; the other 7% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 3 weeks ago. About 187 people are on it, run by a Complex Incident Management Team. We're also tracking 4 other active fires within about 75 miles.

Size: 90,400 acres
Containment: 93%
Discovered: August 24, 2026 (first reported about 3 weeks ago)
Cause: Equipment and vehicle use

The size and containment above are current as of Wednesday, September 16th at 4:00 a.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what this fire will do.

Overnight

77°F · Clear

Wind 5 to 10 mph S · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Dry

Wednesday

101°F · Sunny

Wind 5 to 10 mph S · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Very hot Dry

Wednesday Night

76°F · Mostly Clear

Wind 5 to 10 mph SE · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Dry

Thursday

99°F · Sunny

Wind 0 to 10 mph SSE · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Hot Dry

Thursday Night

75°F · Mostly Clear

Wind 5 to 10 mph SE · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Dry

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Wednesday, September 16th at 4:01 a.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

1° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

0% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

1,090 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 3:56 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 187 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Complex Incident Management Team. The government rates it a Type 1 Incident (the highest complexity level).

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.