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 Niceville responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Niceville's departments reported 62 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 123 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
613 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 153 | — | |
| 2022 | 124 | -19.0% | |
| 2023 | 158 | +27.4% | |
| 2024 | 116 | -26.6% | |
| 2025* | 62 | — |
* Well below Niceville'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 Niceville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 139 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 | Undetermined | 22 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 15 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 24.5% |
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 Niceville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 79 | 56.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Niceville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $300 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Niceville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,645 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 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,100 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,930 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,900 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,486 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,176 | 24.5 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 Niceville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Niceville.
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.