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.
FL
In 2025, fire departments serving Miramar responded to 189 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 227 | — | |
| 2022 | 218 | -4.0% | |
| 2023 | 280 | +28.4% | |
| 2024 | 242 | -13.6% | |
| 2025 | 189 | -21.9% |
For the 16 building fires Miramar departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 368 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 | 118 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 32 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 25 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 15 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 13 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 90 | 24.5% |
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 Miramar mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 129 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 53 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 51 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 4 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 37 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Miramar departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Miramar sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,004,426 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 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 68,295 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 63,599 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 62,404 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 25.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39,465 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 38,131 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 30,636 | 42.9 mi |
Top 8 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 Miramar. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Miramar.
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.