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 Tarpon Springs responded to 177 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
951 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 189 | — | |
| 2022 | 203 | +7.4% | |
| 2023 | 164 | -19.2% | |
| 2024 | 218 | +32.9% | |
| 2025 | 177 | -18.8% |
For the 22 building fires Tarpon Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 208 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 | Undetermined | 48 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 31 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 20 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 15.9% |
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 Tarpon Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 69.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tarpon Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tarpon Springs sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
137 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 | 35 | |
| 30-39 | 57 | |
| 40-49 | 23 | |
| 50-59 | 16 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,562 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 3,000 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,939 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,500 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,427 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,287 | 14.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 1,000 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 812 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 47.5 mi |
Top 9 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 Tarpon Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tarpon Springs.
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.