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 Lake Butler responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
429 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 165 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | -55.2% | |
| 2023* | 19 | — | |
| 2024 | 87 | — | |
| 2025 | 84 | -3.4% |
* Well below Lake Butler'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 Lake Butler departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 130 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 | 27 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 23 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 19.2% |
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 Lake Butler mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Butler departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Butler sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 152,367 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,304 | 43.0 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 Lake Butler. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Butler.
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.