- Author
- Badger, S. G.
- Title
- Large-Loss Fires in the United States, 2005.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
- fire statistics | fire losses | costs | fire detection | fire suppression | fire protection | case histories
- Abstract
- Each year, NFPA reports on large fire and explosion losses in the United States , defined as events that resulted in property damage of at least $5 million. In 2005, fire departments in the United States responded to an estimated 1,602,000 fires. These fires caused an estimated loss of $10.7 billion. Many fires were small, with little or no property damage reported; however, 38 resulted in losses of $5 million or more each. Together, these large-loss fires resulted in $344 million in direct property loss, killed two civilians, and injured 32 more, as well as injuring 48 firefighters. Despite the fact that these fires accounted for only .002 percent of all the fires estimated to have occurred in the United States last year, they accounted for 3.2 percent of the total estimated dollar loss. The direct property loss in large-loss fires was down by $180 million or 34.4 percent from 2004.