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 Newberry responded to 88 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $700K 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 48% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
384 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | — | |
| 2023 | 61 | -22.8% | |
| 2024 | 110 | +80.3% | |
| 2025 | 88 | -20.0% |
* Well below Newberry'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 12 building fires Newberry departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 14.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 12 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 25.9% |
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 Newberry mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 47 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 17.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newberry departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newberry sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 178,897 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 57,200 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 20,100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 20,000 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,626 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 12,753 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 6,500 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,679 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,170 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,100 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 3,740 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,713 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 29.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Newberry. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Newberry.
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.