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 Port Orange responded to 210 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $427K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,316 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 169 | — | |
| 2022 | 356 | +110.7% | |
| 2023 | 291 | -18.3% | |
| 2024 | 290 | -0.3% | |
| 2025 | 210 | -27.6% |
For the 16 building fires Port Orange departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 293 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 | 49 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 39 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 27 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 18 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 81 | 27.6% |
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 Port Orange mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 100 | 34.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 29 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 21 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 15 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Orange departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $426,593 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $190,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Orange sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 224,636 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 39,000 | 14.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 26,900 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,000 | 26.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,600 | 4.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 28.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 10,240 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,302 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,145 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,575 | 14.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,420 | 9.1 mi |
Top 9 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 Port Orange. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Orange.
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.