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 North Fort Myers responded to 566 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,885 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $7.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 481 | — | |
| 2022 | 667 | +38.7% | |
| 2023 | 584 | -12.4% | |
| 2024 | 587 | +0.5% | |
| 2025 | 566 | -3.6% |
For the 45 building fires North Fort Myers departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 663 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 | 194 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 92 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 46 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 38 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 184 | 27.8% |
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 North Fort Myers mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 302 | 45.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 73 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 63 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 37 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 33 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 32 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 28 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 52 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Fort Myers departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 58% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Fort Myers sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 193,487 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 43,561 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 18,027 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 16,500 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,627 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,250 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,230 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 7,104 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,068 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 39.3 mi |
Top 5 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 North Fort Myers. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North Fort Myers.
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.