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 Holiday responded to 170 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $352K 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.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,235 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 245 | — | |
| 2022 | 239 | -2.4% | |
| 2023 | 243 | +1.7% | |
| 2024 | 338 | +39.1% | |
| 2025 | 170 | -49.7% |
For the 22 building fires Holiday departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 278 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 11.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 29 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 18 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 17 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 28.1% |
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 Holiday mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 32 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 29 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 29 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 18.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Holiday departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $352,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $65,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Holiday sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,132 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 12.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 960 | 47.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Holiday. 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.