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 Highland Beach responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
70 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | +36.4% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +53.3% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -43.5% |
* Well below Highland Beach'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 0 building fires Highland Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Wall assembly | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 7 | Construction/renovation area | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Highland Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 14.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highland Beach sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 807,089 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 158,000 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 68,295 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 29,250 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 27,000 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 26,428 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 25,000 | 23.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Highland Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Highland 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.