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 Callahan responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
528 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 118 | +31.1% | |
| 2023 | 105 | -11.0% | |
| 2024 | 99 | -5.7% | |
| 2025 | 116 | +17.2% |
For the 3 building fires Callahan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 127 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 | 34 | 26.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 29 | 22.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 21.3% |
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 Callahan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 13 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Callahan departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $28,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Callahan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,201,946 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 309,200 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 191,474 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 152,515 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 124,110 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 123,014 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 69,060 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 34,936 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 34,660 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 28,985 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,100 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,100 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 14,128 | 37.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32011 | 528 |
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Callahan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Callahan.
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.