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 Paisley responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
256 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $505K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | -17.4% | |
| 2023 | 70 | +84.2% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -25.7% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -3.8% |
For the 4 building fires Paisley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 116 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 | 35 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 19 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 16.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 9.5% |
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 Paisley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 60.3% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paisley departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paisley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 212,248 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 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 12.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 9.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Paisley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.