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.
FL
In 2025, fire departments serving Bartow responded to 283 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $275K 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 60% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,332 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 210 | — | |
| 2022 | 275 | +31.0% | |
| 2023 | 268 | -2.5% | |
| 2024 | 296 | +10.4% | |
| 2025 | 283 | -4.4% |
For the 19 building fires Bartow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 519 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 | 152 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 84 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 52 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 29 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 24 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 21 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 93 | 17.9% |
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 Bartow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 335 | 64.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 30 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 16 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bartow departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $190,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $55,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $23,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bartow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 101,551 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 17,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5,964 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 4,200 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,200 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,250 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 3,200 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 3,000 | 33.1 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 Florida cities with population within ±25% of Bartow. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bartow.
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.