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 Belle Isle responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
28 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $48K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 28 | — |
* Well below Belle Isle'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 1 building fires Belle Isle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Belle Isle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Belle Isle departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $45,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $600 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belle Isle sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 176,539 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,564 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 5.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 25.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 6,263 | 39.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Belle Isle. 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.