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 Davenport responded to 374 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $196K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,779 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $9.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 248 | — | |
| 2022 | 304 | +22.6% | |
| 2023 | 373 | +22.7% | |
| 2024 | 480 | +28.7% | |
| 2025 | 374 | -22.1% |
For the 29 building fires Davenport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 544 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 87 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 72 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 62 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 59 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 34 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 34 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 16 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 15 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 129 | 23.7% |
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 Davenport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 216 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 59 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 35 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 21 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 21 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 17 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 97 | 17.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Davenport departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $196,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Davenport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
17 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 100,465 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5,964 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 4,200 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,200 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 3,900 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,741 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,250 | 40.3 mi |
Top 10 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 Davenport. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Davenport.
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.