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 Century responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
270 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $441K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | — | |
| 2023 | 69 | +60.5% | |
| 2024 | 66 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -4.5% |
* Well below Century'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 8 building fires Century departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 16.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 21.6% |
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 Century mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Century departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $9,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Century sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 61,965 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,100 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,930 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,900 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,486 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,332 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,176 | 31.6 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 | 32535 | 270 |
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Century. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.