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 Brooksville responded to 515 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $310K 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 57% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10.1M cumulative property loss. 7 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 597 | — | |
| 2022 | 583 | -2.3% | |
| 2023 | 781 | +34.0% | |
| 2024 | 655 | -16.1% | |
| 2025 | 515 | -21.4% |
For the 28 building fires Brooksville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 660 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 | 109 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 95 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 67 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 46 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 34 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 30 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Other | 28 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 152 | 23.0% |
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 Brooksville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 241 | 36.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 62 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 60 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 43 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 29 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 15 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 120 | 18.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brooksville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 63% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $310,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $110,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brooksville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
32 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 5 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,116 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,507 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 1,700 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 1,551 | 35.0 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 Brooksville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brooksville.
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.