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 Palm Beach Gardens responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
27 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $83K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 6 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 10 | +66.7% |
* Well below Palm Beach Gardens's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires Palm Beach Gardens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 5 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Palm Beach Gardens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palm Beach Gardens departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $16,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palm Beach Gardens sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 501,417 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 38,000 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 26,428 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 25,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23,500 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 23,250 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 21,100 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 17,000 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 16,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 15,000 | 49.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Palm Beach Gardens. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Palm Beach Gardens.
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.