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 Moore Haven responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
225 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +3.5% | |
| 2023* | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | 41 | — | |
| 2025 | 45 | +9.8% |
* Well below Moore Haven'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 3 building fires Moore Haven departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 146 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 | 35 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 22 | 15.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 15.1% |
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 Moore Haven mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 64 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moore Haven departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moore Haven sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 750,359 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 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 63,599 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 43,561 | 5.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38,100 | 7.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 38,000 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 29,250 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 29,112 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 27,000 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 24,315 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23,500 | 45.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Moore Haven. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Moore Haven.
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.