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 Hernando responded to 191 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 66% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
903 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 123 | — | |
| 2022 | 157 | +27.6% | |
| 2023 | 218 | +38.9% | |
| 2024 | 214 | -1.8% | |
| 2025 | 191 | -10.7% |
For the 9 building fires Hernando departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 132 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 | Undetermined | 40 | 30.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 19.7% |
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 Hernando mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 50.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hernando departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $84,618 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $58,549 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $31,433 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hernando sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 58,150 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 4,014 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 3,149 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,111 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,616 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,507 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 2,015 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 36.9 mi |
Top 8 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 Hernando. 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.