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 Montverde responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 66% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
146 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $400K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | +3.7% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +35.7% | |
| 2025 | 38 | +0.0% |
* Well below Montverde'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 9 building fires Montverde departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Outside area, other | 10 | 17.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 15.8% |
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 Montverde mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Montverde departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Montverde sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 138,128 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 5,000 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4,500 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,200 | 48.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Montverde. 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.