Two Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Three Weeks Destroy Homes in Pasco County, Florida
Battery fires in Zephyrhills and New Port Richey destroyed two homes, killed a dog and displaced six people between Aug. 31 and Sept. 18.
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In 2025, fire departments serving Baldwin responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
54 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | -30.0% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +85.7% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -7.7% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +0.0% |
For the 0 building fires Baldwin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.6% |
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 Baldwin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 22 | 100.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baldwin sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,217,498 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 309,200 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 191,474 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 152,515 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 124,110 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 123,014 | 27.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 69,060 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 34,936 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 34,660 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 28,985 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,100 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,100 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,626 | 33.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Baldwin. 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.