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 Palmetto responded to 258 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 43% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,599 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $9.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 248 | — | |
| 2022 | 345 | +39.1% | |
| 2023 | 301 | -12.8% | |
| 2024 | 447 | +48.5% | |
| 2025 | 258 | -42.3% |
For the 18 building fires Palmetto departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 567 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 | 93 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 91 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 69 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 62 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 59 | 10.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 28 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 20 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 16 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 10 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 98 | 17.3% |
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 Palmetto mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 301 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 59 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 45 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 15 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 13 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 13 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 65 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palmetto departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 60% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $240,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palmetto sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
14 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 45,051 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1,674 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,600 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,400 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,350 | 42.4 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 Palmetto. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Palmetto.
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.