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 Sarasota responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. South Sarasota's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 34 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $153K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +20.7% | |
| 2023 | 42 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +26.2% | |
| 2025* | 10 | — |
* Well below South Sarasota'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 1 building fires South Sarasota departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 9 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Sarasota mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Sarasota sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 42,710 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 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1,674 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,400 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,350 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 1,325 | 37.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Sarasota. 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.