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 Fanning Springs responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
58 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $402K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 10 | -44.4% | |
| 2025 | 10 | +0.0% |
* Well below Fanning 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 1 building fires Fanning Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Outside area, other | 7 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Fanning Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fanning Springs departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fanning Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 120,401 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 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 21.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 6,500 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,170 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,100 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,713 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,933 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,616 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,088 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,372 | 21.8 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 Fanning Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fanning Springs.
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.