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 Naples responded to 1,206 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
8,300 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $49.4M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,638 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,989 | +21.4% | |
| 2023 | 1,855 | -6.7% | |
| 2024 | 1,612 | -13.1% | |
| 2025 | 1,206 | -25.2% |
For the 65 building fires Naples departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,439 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 | 257 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 196 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 146 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 127 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 114 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 60 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 48 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 45 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 33 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 32 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 381 | 26.5% |
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 Naples mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 504 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 198 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 104 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 97 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 86 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 66 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 64 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 46 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 46 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 39 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 189 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Naples departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $260,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $254,879 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Naples sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
37 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 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 12 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 349,598 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 38,131 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 29,112 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 26,371 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 24,315 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 22,488 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,300 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 18,027 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17,000 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 16,500 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,627 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,689 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,466 | 19.6 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 Naples. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Naples.
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.