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 Westlake responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 96% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
59 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $56K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 9 | -18.2% | |
| 2025 | 24 | +166.7% |
* Well below Westlake'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 Westlake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Westlake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westlake departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westlake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 799,748 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 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 57,000 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 49,500 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 42,000 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,000 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38,100 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 38,000 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,937 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 29,250 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 27,000 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 26,428 | 26.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Westlake. 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.