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 Lealman responded to 270 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 59% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,584 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 314 | — | |
| 2022 | 315 | +0.3% | |
| 2023 | 268 | -14.9% | |
| 2024 | 417 | +55.6% | |
| 2025 | 270 | -35.3% |
For the 47 building fires Lealman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 329 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 | Outside area, other | 59 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 38 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 36 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 36 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 11 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 11 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 10 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 81 | 24.6% |
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 Lealman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 189 | 57.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 21 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 16 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lealman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $72,478 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lealman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
256 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 12 | |
| 20-29 | 67 | |
| 30-39 | 108 | |
| 40-49 | 46 | |
| 50-59 | 12 | |
| 60-69 | 6 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,656 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 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 1,300 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,175 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 49.8 mi |
Top 10 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 Lealman. 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.