- Author
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Title
- Residential Air Conditioning Fires.
- Coporate
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emmitsburg, MD
- Journal
- Topical Fire Research Series, Vol. 2, No. 5, 1-3, July 2001
- Distribution
- For more information about Topical Fire Research Series contact: Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfdc/tfrs.htm AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/
- Keywords
- air conditioning | residential buildings | fire statistics
- Identifiers
- each year, an average of 2,300 residential air conditioning fires cause $23.8 million in damage; residential A/C fires result in less injury (60/year) and death (about 5/year) than other residential fires; 75% of A/C fires occur in one- and two-family dwellings. More than half of these fires are from either portable or fixed local A/C units; 86% of A/C fires are caused by mechanical failure or malfunction; half of these are from short circuits; A/C fires peak from 4 to 5 p.m., the time when the demand for air conditioning is at its highest