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 Blountstown responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
203 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | — | |
| 2023 | 51 | +21.4% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +3.9% | |
| 2025 | 53 | +0.0% |
* Well below Blountstown'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 3 building fires Blountstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 27 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 10.9% |
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 Blountstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette | 12 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blountstown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blountstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 138,167 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 26,279 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,602 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,458 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 8,080 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,498 | 18.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,400 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,679 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 6,675 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,622 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,384 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,983 | 29.5 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 Blountstown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Blountstown.
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.