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 South Miami responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. South Miami's departments reported 19 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 43 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
May peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
213 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $973K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | -1.9% | |
| 2023 | 50 | -5.7% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -26.0% | |
| 2025* | 19 | — |
* Well below South Miami's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires South Miami departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 56 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 | 14 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 19.6% |
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 South Miami mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Candle | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Miami departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Miami sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 872,495 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 158,000 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 68,295 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 62,404 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39,465 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 30,636 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 26,428 | 47.8 mi |
Top 6 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 South Miami. 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.