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 Pensacola responded to 1,420 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $4.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
7,149 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $33.9M cumulative property loss. 10 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,165 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,184 | +1.6% | |
| 2023 | 1,680 | +41.9% | |
| 2024 | 1,700 | +1.2% | |
| 2025 | 1,420 | -16.5% |
For the 135 building fires Pensacola departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,630 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 | 230 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 199 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 190 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 147 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 137 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 78 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 48 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 44 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Other | 41 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 36 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 480 | 29.4% |
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 Pensacola mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 801 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 182 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 160 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 58 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 54 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 52 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 48 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 38 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 33 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 33 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 171 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pensacola departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $387,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $190,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pensacola sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
48 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 9 | |
| 30-39 | 11 | |
| 40-49 | 6 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 9 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,733 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,100 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,930 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,900 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,486 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,176 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,846 | 22.3 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 Pensacola. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pensacola.
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.