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 Harbor responded to 169 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $261K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,104 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 188 | — | |
| 2022 | 202 | +7.4% | |
| 2023 | 184 | -8.9% | |
| 2024 | 361 | +96.2% | |
| 2025 | 169 | -53.2% |
For the 28 building fires Palm Harbor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 241 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 29 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 21 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 12 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 24.9% |
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 Palm Harbor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 111 | 46.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 11 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palm Harbor departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $261,342 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $237,968 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $11,325 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,158 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palm Harbor sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
227 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 | 52 | |
| 30-39 | 90 | |
| 40-49 | 58 | |
| 50-59 | 19 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,722 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 16.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 900 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 812 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 44.5 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 Palm Harbor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Palm Harbor.
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.