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 Wellington responded to 126 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
559 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 120 | +71.4% | |
| 2023 | 120 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 123 | +2.5% | |
| 2025 | 126 | +2.4% |
For the 7 building fires Wellington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | 15 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 30.0% |
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 Wellington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wellington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $93,961 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $79,329 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $31,697 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wellington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 788,698 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 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38,100 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 38,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 29,250 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 27,000 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 26,428 | 20.2 mi |
Top 5 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 Wellington. 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.