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 Hudson responded to 248 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 60% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,418 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 283 | — | |
| 2022 | 239 | -15.5% | |
| 2023 | 262 | +9.6% | |
| 2024 | 386 | +47.3% | |
| 2025 | 248 | -35.8% |
For the 12 building fires Hudson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 396 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 | Wildland, woods | 63 | 15.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 56 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 41 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 41 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 25 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 19 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 96 | 24.2% |
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 Hudson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 124 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 41 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 22 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 16 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 77 | 19.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hudson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
19 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,312 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 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 1,700 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 15.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,147 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 9.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Hudson. 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.