Fast Facts
Knowing the facts is the key to fire safety
Fire deaths
In 2002, 79% of fires in the United States occurred
in the home, resulting in 2,670 fire deaths.
In the U.S., someone dies from a home fire roughly
every 197 (2002) minutes.
In Canada, someone is fatally injured in a home fire
roughly every 31 hours.
Roughly half of all home fire deaths in the U.S.
resulted from fires that were reported between the hours
of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. But only one-quarter of home
fires occur between those hours.
Although children five and under make up about 9% of
the country's population, they accounted for 17% of the
home fire deaths.
Smoking was the leading cause of home fire deaths
overall, but in the months of December, January and
February, smoking and heating equipment caused similar
shares of fire deaths.
Smoke alarms
- Since the 1970's, when smoke alarms first became
widely available to households in the United States, the
home fire death rate has been reduced by half.
- Nineteen of every 20 homes (95%) in the U.S. have at
least one smoke alarm.
- More than half of home fire deaths result from fires
in the 5% of homes with no smoke alarms.
- In one-quarter of the reported fires in homes
equipped with smoke alarms, the devices did not work,
most often because of missing, dead or disconnected
batteries.
- In a 1999 survey, only eight percent of those whose
smoke alarms had sounded in the past year initially
thought that a fire had caused the alarm to sound and
thought they should get out of their homes as a result.
- Smoke alarms that are 10 years old have a 30% chance
of failing to work properly and should be replaced.
Home escape planning
NFPA survey,
only a small number of families (25%) have actually
developed and practiced a home fire escape plan to
ensure they could escape quickly and safely.
If a smoke alarm went off in the middle of the
night, only 39 percent said they would leave the house
immediately. Fifty-six percent said that they would
investigate to find the source of the alarm.
An estimated 6.6 million families planned and
practiced a home fire escape plan as part of NFPA's Fire
Prevention Week 2003 campaign with Weekly
Reader/Lifetime Learning Systems.
Home fire sprinklers
- Properly installed and maintained, automatic fire
sprinkler systems help save lives.
- Automatic fire sprinklers and smoke alarms together
cut your risk of dying in a fire in a one- or two-family
dwelling by 82% when compared to having neither.
Heating
- During the months of December, January and February,
heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires.
About two-thirds of home heating fire deaths were caused
by portable or fixed space heaters.
Read NFPA´s home heating fact sheet.
Candles
- Over the last decade, candle fires have almost
tripled. In 1999 alone, an estimated 15,040 home fires
started by candles were reported to fire departments.
These fires resulted in 102 deaths, 1,473 injuries and
an estimated property loss of $278 million.
- Forty percent of U.S. home candle fires begin in the
bedroom.
- December had almost twice the number of home candle
fires of an average month.
Read NFPA´s candle fact sheet.
Cooking
- More fires start in the kitchen than in any other
place in the home.
- Cooking fires are the #1 cause of home fires and
home fire injuries.
- Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home
cooking fires.
Read NFPA´s cooking fact sheet.
Electrical
- Fires started by electrical arcs, overloads and
other electrical failures kill hundreds of people and
injure thousands each year.
- In 1999, electrical distribution equipment was the
fourth leading cause of home structure fires, but ranked
first in cause of direct property damage.
Read NFPA´s electrical fact sheet.
Smoking materials
- Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes,
etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths and the third
leading cause of fire injuries in the U.S.
- Roughly one of every four fire deaths in the 1999
was attributed to smoking materials.
- The most common material first ignited in
residential smoking material-related fires was
mattresses and bedding, followed by trash and
upholstered furniture.
Read NFPA´s smoking materials fact sheet.
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Source for
statistics
include NFIRS,
NFPA survey and
the Association
of Canadian Fire
Marshal's and
Fire
Commissioners.
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Browse
NFPA´s
One-Stop Data
Shop
for fire data
analysis
reports, many of
which are
free
to NFPA members.
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