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 Molino responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $444K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022* | 14 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | — | |
| 2024 | 44 | +76.0% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -31.8% |
* Well below Molino'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 6 building fires Molino departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | 7 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 16.1% |
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 Molino mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 32.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Molino departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Molino sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,733 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,100 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,930 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,900 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,486 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,176 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,846 | 19.7 mi |
Top 2 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 Molino. 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.