- Author
- Ahrens, M.
- Title
- Home Structure Fires.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Report
- NFPA No. USS12G, September 2007, 76 p.
- Keywords
- home fires | structures | fire statistics | residential buildings | apartments | fire departments | NFIRS | methodology | death | injuries | fire fatalities | apartments
- Identifiers
- leading causes of reported home structure fires; detailed causal information by NFIRS field; home structure fire tables; one- and two-family dwelling structure fire tables
- Abstract
- NFPA estimates that U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 377,100 reported home structure fires per year during the four-year-period of 2002-2005. These fires caused an estimated average of 2,870 civilian deaths, 13,360 civilian injuries, and $5.9 billion in direct property damage per year. Almost three-quarters (72%) of the reported home structure fires and 85% of the fatal home fire injuries occurred in one-and two-family dwellings (including manufactured homes). The remainder occurred in apartments or similar properties. Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, while heating equipment and smoking materials are the leading causes of home fire deaths. Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, while smoking materials are the leading cause of home fire deaths. Among the major fire causes, smoking materials have the highest rate of deaths per 100 reported fires. More than half of all home fire deaths result from incidents reported between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Twenty-four percent of all home fire deaths were caused by fires that started in the living room, family room or den; 24% resulted from fires originating in the bedroom. Although smoke alarms operated in 49% of the reported home fires, no working smoke alarm was present in 65% of the home fire deaths. These estimates are based on data from the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA's) annual fire department experience survey.