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 Ocala responded to 1,708 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.3M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
9,545 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $39.1M cumulative property loss. 7 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,827 | — | |
| 2022 | 2,048 | +12.1% | |
| 2023 | 1,993 | -2.7% | |
| 2024 | 1,969 | -1.2% | |
| 2025 | 1,708 | -13.3% |
For the 76 building fires Ocala departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,417 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 | 418 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 331 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 268 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 253 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 211 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 179 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 54 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 50 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 50 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 47 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 556 | 23.0% |
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 Ocala mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 998 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 225 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 155 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 152 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 127 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 91 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 88 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 79 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 59 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 53 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 390 | 16.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ocala departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 63% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,287,771 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ocala sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
38 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 109,384 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,626 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 6,500 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,679 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,200 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,170 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 4,014 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,713 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,701 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 28.1 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 Ocala. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ocala.
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.