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 Miami Gardens responded to 323 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,847 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $13.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 348 | — | |
| 2022 | 388 | +11.5% | |
| 2023 | 345 | -11.1% | |
| 2024 | 443 | +28.4% | |
| 2025 | 323 | -27.1% |
For the 23 building fires Miami Gardens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 592 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 | 194 | 32.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 66 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 44 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 35 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 22 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 19 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 13 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 126 | 21.3% |
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 Miami Gardens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 164 | 27.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 118 | 19.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 91 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 31 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 25 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 23 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 18 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 10 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 87 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Miami Gardens departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $86,250 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Miami Gardens sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 976,807 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 158,000 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 68,295 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 63,599 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 62,404 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39,465 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 30,636 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 34.9 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 Miami Gardens. 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.