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 Daytona Beach responded to 544 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,973 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $11.4M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 380 | — | |
| 2022 | 487 | +28.2% | |
| 2023 | 939 | +92.8% | |
| 2024 | 623 | -33.7% | |
| 2025 | 544 | -12.7% |
For the 39 building fires Daytona Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 488 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 | 101 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 58 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 56 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 43 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 35 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 33 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 95 | 19.5% |
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 Daytona Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 184 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 56 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 54 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 41 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 62 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Daytona Beach departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 59% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $185,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Daytona Beach sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
14 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 217,060 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 | 6.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 4.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,145 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 6.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 21.1 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 Daytona Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Daytona Beach.
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.