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 Panama City Beach responded to 186 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Panama City Beach's departments reported 186 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 316 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,579 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 363 | — | |
| 2022 | 306 | -15.7% | |
| 2023 | 402 | +31.4% | |
| 2024 | 322 | -19.9% | |
| 2025* | 186 | — |
* Well below Panama City Beach'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 13 building fires Panama City Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 632 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 | 136 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 82 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 62 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 50 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 40 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 31 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 134 | 21.2% |
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 Panama City Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 325 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 43 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 41 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 34 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 30 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 18 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 61 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Panama City Beach departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $305,803 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Panama City Beach sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,622 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 8,080 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 34.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,848 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,135 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 1,100 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,050 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,035 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 11.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 988 | 33.9 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 Panama City Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Panama City Beach.
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.