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 Leesburg responded to 268 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,069 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $9.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 408 | — | |
| 2022 | 400 | -2.0% | |
| 2023 | 493 | +23.2% | |
| 2024 | 500 | +1.4% | |
| 2025 | 268 | -46.4% |
For the 31 building fires Leesburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 883 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 | 147 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 125 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 91 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 80 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 69 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 54 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 45 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 25 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 22 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 20 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 205 | 23.2% |
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 Leesburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 393 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 71 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 58 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 44 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 41 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 40 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 24 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 23 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 16 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 148 | 16.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leesburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $91,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $57,832 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leesburg 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 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 97,906 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 35.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,200 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 4,014 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,701 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 3,149 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,111 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,965 | 36.8 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 Leesburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leesburg.
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.