- Author
- Hall, J. R., Jr.
- Title
- Fire in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
- death | fire statistics | injuries | fire incidence
- Abstract
- The U.S. has a population 4.8 times the size of the population of the United Kingdom (of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) in a country with 38 times as large an area. In 2002, the U.S. had 3.2 times as many reported fires. The U.S. had 6.0 times as many civilian deaths but only 1.1 times as many civilian injuries. The difference in injury rates appears to be primarily due to differences in defining an injury. In 2002, 35% of U.K. civilian injuries involved only precautionary check-ups, a condition not recorded as an injury in the U.S. Another 7% involved shock, which accounts for roughly 1% of U.S. injuries and may be more liberally diagnosed (or more completely captured) in the U.K. If these two types of injuries are removed, the ratio of U.S. to U.K. civilian injuries rises to 1.9, somewhat closer to the ratio for fire incidents. Causes of fires leading to deaths are quite similar in the two countries. In both, smoking constitutes by far the leading cause of fatal structure fires. Intentional fires rank second in the U.S. and the U.K., based on the estimated final results.