- Author
- Ahrens, M.
- Title
- Home Structure Fires That Began With Decorations.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Report
- NFPA USS38, November 2007, 21 p.
- Keywords
- fire statistics | building fires | home fires | death | injuries | costs | NFIRS | fire data | heat sources
- Identifiers
- decorations; holiday fires; home structure decoration fires by year; home structure fires in which decorations were first ignited by month; home structure decoration fires by heat source
- Abstract
- During the four-year-period of 2002-2005, NFPA estimates that decorations were the item first ignited in an estimated average of 1,150 reported home structure fires per year. These fires caused an estimated average of three civilian deaths, 56 civilian injuries and $24.8 million in direct property damage per year. 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. One-quarter of the home structure decoration fires occurred in December. Half of these fires occurred because the decoration was too close to a heat source. Fifty-six percent of these incidents were started by candles. One-quarter started in the living room, family room, or den.