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 Ormond Beach responded to 277 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K 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 50% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,864 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 322 | — | |
| 2022 | 464 | +44.1% | |
| 2023 | 466 | +0.4% | |
| 2024 | 335 | -28.1% | |
| 2025 | 277 | -17.3% |
For the 22 building fires Ormond Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 265 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 | 46 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 38 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 26 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 17 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 15 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 74 | 27.9% |
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 Ormond Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 25 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 17 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ormond Beach departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 74% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | 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 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ormond Beach sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 208,887 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 39,000 | 6.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 11.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 25.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,145 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 4.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,136 | 23.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Ormond Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ormond Beach.
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.