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 Chuluota responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K 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 49% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
230 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $995K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +9.8% | |
| 2023 | 51 | +13.3% | |
| 2024 | 50 | -2.0% | |
| 2025 | 43 | -14.0% |
For the 0 building fires Chuluota departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Swimming pool | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 24.0% |
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 Chuluota mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chuluota departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chuluota sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 207,031 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 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,564 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 12.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 24.0 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 | 32766 | 230 |
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Chuluota. 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.