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 Melbourne responded to 563 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,124 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $12.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 654 | — | |
| 2022 | 624 | -4.6% | |
| 2023 | 567 | -9.1% | |
| 2024 | 716 | +26.3% | |
| 2025 | 563 | -21.4% |
For the 26 building fires Melbourne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 613 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 142 | 23.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 75 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 74 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 43 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 29 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 175 | 28.5% |
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 Melbourne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 243 | 39.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 85 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 55 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 49 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 39 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 17 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 66 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Melbourne departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 67% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $331,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $123,200 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Melbourne sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
30 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 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 9 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 169,367 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 17,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13,000 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,564 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,000 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 7,000 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,981 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 6,263 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5,964 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,500 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,304 | 25.9 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 Melbourne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Melbourne.
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.