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 Pinellas Park responded to 318 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K 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 55% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,901 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $8.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 358 | — | |
| 2022 | 383 | +7.0% | |
| 2023 | 307 | -19.8% | |
| 2024 | 535 | +74.3% | |
| 2025 | 318 | -40.6% |
For the 52 building fires Pinellas Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 450 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 | 83 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 67 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 51 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 40 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 16 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 91 | 20.2% |
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 Pinellas Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 292 | 64.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pinellas Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pinellas Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
83 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 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 25 | |
| 30-39 | 22 | |
| 40-49 | 23 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,735 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 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 1,300 | 40.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 30.5 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 Pinellas Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.