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 Homosassa responded to 372 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $287K 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 72% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,574 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 241 | — | |
| 2022 | 278 | +15.4% | |
| 2023 | 336 | +20.9% | |
| 2024 | 347 | +3.3% | |
| 2025 | 372 | +7.2% |
For the 24 building fires Homosassa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 224 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 | 70 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 57 | 25.4% |
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 Homosassa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 105 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 20 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Homosassa departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $287,333 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $199,860 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $103,497 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $99,482 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $86,704 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $66,059 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $58,484 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Homosassa 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 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. 32,305 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 1.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 1,700 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,300 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,148 | 36.3 mi |
Top 7 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 Homosassa. 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.