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 Seffner responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $320K 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 73% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
833 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 151 | — | |
| 2022 | 161 | +6.6% | |
| 2023 | 150 | -6.8% | |
| 2024 | 255 | +70.0% | |
| 2025 | 116 | -54.5% |
For the 7 building fires Seffner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 158 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 | 36 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 21 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 21.5% |
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 Seffner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 143 | 90.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 0.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Seffner departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $320,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $27,850 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,500 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Seffner sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 52,790 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,507 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 36.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Seffner. 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.