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 Sarasota responded to 855 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $220K 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 41% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
7,099 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $25.6M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,246 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,686 | +35.3% | |
| 2023 | 1,312 | -22.2% | |
| 2024 | 2,000 | +52.4% | |
| 2025 | 855 | -57.2% |
For the 53 building fires Sarasota departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,250 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 | 236 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 182 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 123 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 69 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 63 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 35 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 34 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 33 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 32 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 401 | 32.1% |
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 Sarasota mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 457 | 36.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 163 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 139 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 95 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 60 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 50 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 38 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 36 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 27 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 20 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 165 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sarasota departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 56% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $220,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $173,650 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $158,534 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $105,456 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sarasota sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
66 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 12 | |
| 30-39 | 13 | |
| 40-49 | 8 | |
| 50-59 | 8 | |
| 60-69 | 10 | |
| 70-79 | 4 | |
| 80+ | 5 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,235 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1,674 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,400 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,350 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 1,325 | 39.8 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 Sarasota. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sarasota.
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.