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 Yulee responded to 173 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 43% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
949 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 200 | +23.5% | |
| 2023 | 210 | +5.0% | |
| 2024 | 204 | -2.9% | |
| 2025 | 173 | -15.2% |
For the 10 building fires Yulee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 214 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 | 53 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 52 | 24.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 22.4% |
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 Yulee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 45.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 15 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yulee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Aircraft fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $14,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yulee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,005,630 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 309,200 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 191,474 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 152,515 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 124,110 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 123,014 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 28,985 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,100 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 7,800 | 28.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 6,800 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 5,816 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 5,711 | 44.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,867 | 40.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32097 | 949 |
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Yulee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Yulee.
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.