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 Bronson responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $531K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69 | — | |
| 2022* | 9 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | — | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | — |
* Well below Bronson'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 Bronson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 29 | 53.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 1.9% |
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 Bronson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bronson departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bronson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 139,235 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 57,200 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,626 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 6,500 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,679 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,170 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,713 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,933 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,616 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,088 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 30.5 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 Bronson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bronson.
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.