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 Bokeelia responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $290K 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 90% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
227 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022* | 25 | — | |
| 2023 | 53 | — | |
| 2024 | 75 | +41.5% | |
| 2025 | 29 | -61.3% |
* Well below Bokeelia'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 4 building fires Bokeelia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 10 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Office | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Bokeelia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bokeelia departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $290,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $197,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bokeelia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 79,123 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Natural | 18,027 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 7,104 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,068 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,578 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,500 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,400 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,100 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,865 | 42.5 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 Bokeelia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bokeelia.
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.