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 Crawfordville responded to 119 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
835 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 158 | — | |
| 2022 | 215 | +36.1% | |
| 2023 | 167 | -22.3% | |
| 2024 | 176 | +5.4% | |
| 2025 | 119 | -32.4% |
For the 13 building fires Crawfordville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 273 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 44 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 17.9% |
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 Crawfordville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 84 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 41 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 37 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 37 | 13.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crawfordville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crawfordville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 129,499 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 26,279 | 14.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,602 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,458 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,498 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,400 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,679 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 6,675 | 6.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,622 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,384 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,983 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,624 | 8.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Crawfordville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Crawfordville.
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.