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 Quincy responded to 131 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
735 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.8M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 144 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 173 | +20.1% | |
| 2024 | 167 | -3.5% | |
| 2025 | 131 | -21.6% |
For the 14 building fires Quincy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 256 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 | 73 | 28.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 29 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 19.5% |
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 Quincy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 152 | 59.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Match | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Quincy departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 71% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $86,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Quincy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 128,387 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 26,279 | 29.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,602 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,458 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,498 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,400 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,679 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 6,675 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,622 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,384 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,983 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,624 | 28.0 mi |
Top 8 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 Quincy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Quincy.
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.