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 across Florida responded to 88,196 fire and hazmat incidents — including the DOF Prarie Fire wildfire that burned 68,029 acres in 2011.
Florida ranks #13 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 37% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Apr peaks across the window; Dec dips.
517,384 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92,135 | |
| 2022 | 109,026 | |
| 2023 | 108,958 | |
| 2024 | 119,069 | |
| 2025 | 88,196 |
For the 6,929 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 45,820 | 13,977 / 31,843 | 696,110 | |
| 2 | Equipment & vehicle use | 35,021 | 14,087 / 20,934 | 599,431 | |
| 3 | Natural (lightning) | 30,547 | 24,286 / 6,261 | 2,690,132 | |
| 4 | Arson / incendiarism | 25,038 | 9,145 / 15,893 | 674,643 | |
| 5 | Debris & open burning | 15,281 | 15,281 / 0 | 371,965 | |
| 6 | Railroad operations | 15,248 | 15,248 / 0 | 299,817 | |
| 7 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 4,681 | 4,681 / 0 | 29,332 | |
| 8 | Recreation & ceremony | 2,498 | 2,498 / 0 | 78,587 | |
| 9 | Other causes | 2,267 | 419 / 1,848 | 2,154 | |
| 10 | Power generation / utility | 1,974 | 1,974 / 0 | 26,408 | |
| 11 | Smoking | 1,442 | 1,442 / 0 | 36,970 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 366 | 366 / 0 | 2,017 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 138,764 | $19.3M | 5 | |
| 2 | Electrical / wiring | 129,582 | $10.9M | 0 | |
| 3 | Building fires | 72,529 | $2.0B | 278 | |
| 4 | Wildland fires | 57,117 | $12.7M | 3 | |
| 5 | Rubbish / refuse | 55,178 | $8.8M | 2 | |
| 6 | Gas leaks | 53,496 | $160K | 1 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 42,999 | $634.2M | 127 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 15,849 | $4.2M | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 9,685 | $44.8M | 8 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 49% of Florida's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000,000 | Fort Walton Beach | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $15,834,500 | Tampa | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $10,000,000 | Merritt Island | Water vehicle fire | Catastrophic |
| 4 | $5,000,000 | CORAL GABLES | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 5 | $4,500,000 | Orange Park | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $4,000,000 | PENSACOLA | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $3,000,000 | SUNNY ISLES BEACH | Water vehicle fire | Major |
| 8 | $2,500,000 | Tampa | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Major |
| 9 | $2,500,000 | INLET BEACH | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $2,287,771 | OCALA | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Florida apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami-Dade County | 7,359 | 2,469,516 |
| 2 | Orange County | 5,549 | 1,052,641 |
| 3 | Broward County | 4,682 | 1,939,811 |
| 4 | Pinellas County | 4,664 | 850,782 |
| 5 | Palm Beach County | 4,629 | 887,137 |
| 6 | Duval County | 4,113 | 995,708 |
| 7 | Hillsborough County | 4,080 | 1,379,671 |
| 8 | Polk County | 3,802 | 478,458 |
| 9 | Marion County | 3,144 | 174,640 |
| 10 | Lee County | 2,643 | 702,671 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marion County | 18.00 | 3,144 | 174,640 | |
| 2 | Citrus County | 15.59 | 1,740 | 111,600 | |
| 3 | Alachua County | 10.56 | 1,806 | 171,024 | |
| 4 | Collier County | 9.47 | 1,417 | 149,634 | |
| 5 | Lake County | 9.31 | 2,062 | 221,551 | |
| 6 | Manatee County | 8.25 | 1,662 | 201,408 | |
| 7 | Polk County | 7.95 | 3,802 | 478,458 | |
| 8 | Charlotte County | 7.83 | 871 | 111,277 | |
| 9 | Martin County | 7.49 | 721 | 96,265 | |
| 10 | Sarasota County | 7.43 | 2,434 | 327,615 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DOF Prarie Fire | 2011 | NPS | 68,028 |
| 2 | CP3 RX | 2021 | NPS | 66,918 |
| 3 | Buzzard | 2018 | NPS | 62,454 |
| 4 | Tarpon (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 52,542 |
| 5 | CP-2 Exotics (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 49,703 |
| 6 | EVER CP3 Exotics Rx | 2024 | NPS | 47,986 |
| 7 | ROG-South (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 47,619 |
| 8 | ROG-South/Southern Glades | 2020 | NPS | 43,751 |
| 9 | BICY Kirby Rx FY24 | 2024 | NPS | 39,765 |
| 10 | Mustang Corner | 2008 | NPS | 39,423 |
2342 perimeters and 1,824,195 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 41 | 10,356 | |
| 1980s | 455 | 128,743 | |
| 1990s | 424 | 42,835 | |
| 2000s | 422 | 169,716 | |
| 2010s | 603 | 544,702 | |
| 2020s | 397 | 927,843 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 34,392 | |
| 2000s | 38,460 | |
| 2010s | 28,442 | |
| 2020s | 2,115 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 103,409 ignitions total.
5,456 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 107 | |
| 10-19 | 133 | |
| 20-29 | 908 | |
| 30-39 | 1,525 | |
| 40-49 | 896 | |
| 50-59 | 523 | |
| 60-69 | 279 | |
| 70-79 | 176 | |
| 80+ | 88 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.