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 Lake City responded to 537 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,000 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $15.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 516 | — | |
| 2022 | 585 | +13.4% | |
| 2023 | 682 | +16.6% | |
| 2024 | 680 | -0.3% | |
| 2025 | 537 | -21.0% |
For the 66 building fires Lake City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,119 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 | 303 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 180 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 152 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 102 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 54 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 38 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 19 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 17 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 210 | 18.8% |
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 City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 597 | 53.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 65 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 64 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 61 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 45 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 37 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 25 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 25 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 24 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 22 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 154 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 53% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,283,238 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 309,200 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 191,474 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 152,515 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 124,110 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 123,014 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 69,060 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 57,200 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 34,936 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 34,660 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 28,985 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,100 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 34.4 mi |
Top 8 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 City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake City.
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.