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 Bonita Springs responded to 253 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 42% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,034 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $8.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 210 | — | |
| 2022* | 97 | — | |
| 2023 | 196 | — | |
| 2024 | 278 | +41.8% | |
| 2025 | 253 | -9.0% |
* Well below Bonita Springs'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 12 building fires Bonita Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 236 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 31 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 27 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 76 | 32.2% |
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 Bonita Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 79 | 33.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 39 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bonita Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $355,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bonita Springs sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 315,855 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 29,112 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 26,371 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 24,315 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 22,488 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,300 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 18,027 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17,000 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 16,500 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,627 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,689 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,466 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 9,226 | 40.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Bonita Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bonita Springs.
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.