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 Bradenton responded to 1,009 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
7,555 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $28.7M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,451 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,780 | +22.7% | |
| 2023 | 1,414 | -20.6% | |
| 2024 | 1,901 | +34.4% | |
| 2025 | 1,009 | -46.9% |
For the 90 building fires Bradenton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,276 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 | 412 | 18.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 402 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 234 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 219 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 197 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 108 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 95 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 78 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 60 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 51 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 420 | 18.5% |
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 Bradenton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,345 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 153 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 115 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 97 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 71 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 65 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 55 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 48 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 46 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 39 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 242 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bradenton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 49% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $298,802 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $149,900 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bradenton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
31 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 44,425 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1,674 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,600 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,400 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,350 | 40.6 mi |
Top 10 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 Bradenton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bradenton.
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.