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 De Leon Springs responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
171 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $546K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 60 | — | |
| 2024 | 74 | +23.3% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -50.0% |
* Well below De Leon Springs's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires De Leon Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 9 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.8% |
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 De Leon Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by De Leon Springs departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. De Leon Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 219,752 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 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 15.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 8.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,145 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 15.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 20.5 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 De Leon Springs. 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.