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 Big Pine Key responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
65 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $247K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | 16 | -30.4% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +62.5% |
* Well below Big Pine Key'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 Big Pine Key departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | Outside area, other | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Big Pine Key mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Big Pine Key departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Big Pine Key sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 11 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,396 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 6,175 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 627 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 262 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 2.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 73 | 1.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 68 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 1.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 17 | 0.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 1.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10 | 2.3 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 | 33043 | 65 |
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Big Pine Key. 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.