Fire Protection Research Foundation report: “Residential Electrical Fire Problem: The Data Landscape”
Authors: Victoria Hutchison
Date of issue: October 2018
The causes contributing to residential fires due to electrical failures is currently a concern within the electrical community. The National Electrical Code (NEC®) focuses on ways to reduce the risks of fires and shock hazards by incorporating new technology and knowledge with respect to electrical safety. However, data and data analytics is lacking to guide the optimum approaches to minimize residential electrical fires and related hazards.
While traditional data collection approaches have shortcomings that make their ultimate value questionable, future data collection approaches are becoming available. These emerging approaches are generating a new perspective to support optimum data collection through the promotion of new technologies, frameworks and protocols that were not previously available.