Three hundred ninety-nine thousand home fires were reported in the United States in 2007, according to the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) recently released Home Structure Fires report. The category of homes includes one- and two-family dwellings and apartments.
On average, eight people die in home fires every day in the United States – a total of 2,865 deaths. Home fires accounted for 84 percent of all civilian fire deaths and resulted in 13,600 injuries. Direct property damage was estimated at $7.4 billion.
The report further breaks down causes and circumstances of home fires reported during the four year period of 2003-2006.
Highlights include:
* Roughly one in three reported home fires and home fire deaths occur in December, January, and February.
* Cooking equipment is the leading cause of fires, civilian fire injuries, and unreported fires.
* About 41 percent of reported home fires began in the kitchen or cooking area.
* Smoking was the leading cause of civilian home structure fire deaths.
* Heating ranked second in home structure fire deaths (in one- or two-family dwellings and apartments) overall, and was the leading cause of fire-related deaths in one- or two-family dwellings.
* Heating equipment fires caused the largest percentage of direct property damage.
* Children under five and adults 65 and over face the highest risk of home fire death.
* Almost two thirds of home fire deaths occurred in homes without working smoke alarms.
* Ninety-six percent of all homes have at least one smoke alarm.
* More than half (53 percent) of the people killed by home fires were in the room or area of origin when the fire started.
Dan
Dan March 16, 2009 at 10:43 am
Gee, I thought NFPA was trying to push their agenda for home sprinklers at the cost of $1.61 per square foot. It seems that cooking is the #1 cause of residential fires and not smoking as they tout. However, I noticed how they try to put it as a number one item? I dispise the FSC and they got their way on that one. I do not support sprinklers in residential units. NFPA is putting their fingers in areas they do not need to be. It adds cost to homes that the average home owner cannot afford, me included. I’m all for fire safety. Get your facts together and make them understandable for the average home owner. You can skew stats to reflect any way you want. I don’t plan on renewing my subscription to NFPA and will write my congressman not to support this idiotic idea of home sprinklers. Are you going to pay for the install NFPA on my house? Didn’t think so
Nick
Nick March 29, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Agenda? Since when is trying to save people’s lives supporting the use of technology that has been proven to save lives considered having an Agenda?
Bosko Dewlapp
Bosko Dewlapp March 21, 2011 at 7:17 am
Once again, the Government and NGO’s are interfering with Darwin. Most people killed in fires are stupid people (firemen excepted) and it does the gene pool great harm by saving them from their stupidity.
Look at how idiotic our nation has become in the last fifty years — Darwin was right.