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 Fern Park responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $706K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +33.3% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -20.8% | |
| 2024 | 21 | -44.7% | |
| 2025 | 25 | +19.0% |
For the 1 building fires Fern Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Enclosure, pressurized air | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 21.9% |
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 Fern Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fern Park departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $300 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fern Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 211,474 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 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 23.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 44.6 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 Fern Park. 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.