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 Sun City Center responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $209K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
256 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $898K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +34.1% | |
| 2023 | 59 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 61 | +3.4% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -45.9% |
For the 7 building fires Sun City Center departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | 13 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 14.3% |
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 Sun City Center mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 56 | 88.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 6 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 1.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sun City Center departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $209,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $95,242 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sun City Center sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,340 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 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,932 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,837 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,112 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 4.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,500 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1,674 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,600 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 22.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Sun City Center. 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.