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 Panama City responded to 233 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,922 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 436 | — | |
| 2022 | 409 | -6.2% | |
| 2023 | 401 | -2.0% | |
| 2024 | 443 | +10.5% | |
| 2025 | 233 | -47.4% |
For the 28 building fires Panama City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 735 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 | 126 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 79 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 75 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 70 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 50 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 28 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 26 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 25 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 22 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 198 | 26.9% |
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 Panama City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 345 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 61 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 55 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 51 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 39 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 31 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 20 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 17 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 86 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Panama City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $198,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $37,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Panama City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,055 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 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,498 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,400 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,384 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,983 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,614 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,367 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,073 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,848 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 49.9 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. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Panama City.
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.