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 Cross City responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents . 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.
Dec peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
336 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $273K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +67.3% | |
| 2023 | 79 | -9.2% | |
| 2024 | 65 | -17.7% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -18.5% |
For the 7 building fires Cross City 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 | Undetermined | 50 | 39.4% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 10.2% |
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 Cross City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 126 | 99.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cross City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 101,327 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 57,200 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,100 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,713 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,372 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,300 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,154 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,148 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,050 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 1,032 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 930 | 24.4 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 Cross City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cross City.
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.