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 Bunnell responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
830 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 149 | — | |
| 2022 | 162 | +8.7% | |
| 2023 | 181 | +11.7% | |
| 2024 | 189 | +4.4% | |
| 2025 | 149 | -21.2% |
For the 2 building fires Bunnell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | 49 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 23.2% |
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 Bunnell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 104 | 57.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Match | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bunnell departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bunnell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 189,075 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 39,000 | 13.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 14.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 20.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,145 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,136 | 9.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,500 | 37.1 mi |
Top 4 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 Bunnell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bunnell.
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.