- Author
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Title
- Child Fire Casualties.
- Coporate
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emmitsburg, MD
- Journal
- Topical Fire Research Series, Vol. 1, No. 17, 1-3, March 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
- children | injuries | home fires | fire statistics | casualties
- Identifiers
- fires and related burns are the third leading cause of unintentional injuries to children; each year, an average of 3,650 children age 14 or younger are injured or killed in residential fires. Forty percent of these casualties are under the age of five; children playing fires are the leading cause of child fire casualties. The younger the child, the more likely child play was involved in the start of the fire. In short, when children play with fire, they tend to hurt or kill themselves; mattresses, bedding, clothing not being worn, curtains, and other "soft goods" are the primary materials first ignited in fires that result in child casualties