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 Madison responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Madison's departments reported 41 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 111 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
554 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 130 | — | |
| 2022 | 111 | -14.6% | |
| 2023 | 133 | +19.8% | |
| 2024 | 139 | +4.5% | |
| 2025* | 41 | — |
* Well below Madison'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 3 building fires Madison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 150 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 | 42 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 22.7% |
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 Madison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 73 | 48.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 35 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madison departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $26,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,140 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Madison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 106,338 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 57,200 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 6,179 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,100 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 4,050 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 2,200 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,065 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,372 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,154 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,050 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 963 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 702 | 45.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Madison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Madison.
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.