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 Longwood responded to 213 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,313 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 194 | — | |
| 2022 | 298 | +53.6% | |
| 2023 | 314 | +5.4% | |
| 2024 | 294 | -6.4% | |
| 2025 | 213 | -27.6% |
For the 5 building fires Longwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 209 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 | 33 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 20 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 64 | 30.6% |
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 Longwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 33 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 27 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 15.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Longwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $311,250 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $44,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Longwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 208,274 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 39,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 26.4 mi |
Top 9 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 Longwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Longwood.
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.