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 Pace responded to 248 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $269K 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.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,358 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 255 | — | |
| 2022 | 258 | +1.2% | |
| 2023 | 325 | +26.0% | |
| 2024 | 272 | -16.3% | |
| 2025 | 248 | -8.8% |
For the 34 building fires Pace departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 380 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 | Outside area, other | 86 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 43 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 42 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 83 | 21.8% |
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 Pace mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 164 | 43.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 46 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 27 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 21 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 20 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Match | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pace departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $269,059 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $140,732 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $67,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pace sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,733 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 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,100 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,930 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,900 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,486 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,176 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,846 | 24.4 mi |
Top 6 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 Pace. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pace.
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.