US fire problem

Every 23 seconds, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. Although the number of fires and fire deaths have decreased significantly since the 1970’s, some statistics are more troubling. We continue to analyze fire data to better understand the fire problem and its trends.

Latest report

Fire Loss in the United States During 2021

On average, a fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the US every 23 seconds in 2021. A civilian was fatally injured in a fire every two hours and 18 minutes. Every 36 minutes, a civilian suffered a nonfatal fire injury. The fire and fire loss estimates in this analysis are derived from NFPA’s 2021 fire experience survey (FES). Only fires reported to local fire departments are included.

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Overall US fire numbers

• Fire Loss in the United States (2022)
• Large-Loss Fires in the United States (2021)
• Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires (2021)
• Fire Safety in the US Since 1980 (2021)
• Fires by Occupancy or Property Type (2021)
• US Fire Death Rates by State (2021)
• The Total Cost of Fire in the United States (2017)
• Trends and Patterns of U.S. Fire Losses (2017)

US fire causes

• Intentional Fires (2021)
• Structure Fires Started by Hot Work (2021)
• Playing With Fire: Structure Fires (2021)
• Playing With Fire: Non-Structure Fires (2021)
• Home Heating Fires (2021)
• Home Cooking Fires (2020)
• Home Candle Fires (2020)
• Christmas Tree Fires (2020)
• Fireworks Fires and Injuries (2020)
• Home Grill Fires (2020)
• Electrical Fires (2019)
• The Smoking Material Fire Problem (2019)
• Home Fires That Began With Upholstered Furniture (2017)
• Home Fires Involving Clothes Dryers and Washing Machines (2017)
• Analytical Modeling of Pan and Oil Heating on an Electric Coil Cooktop (2014)
• Development of Standardized Cooking Fires for Evaluation of Prevention Technologies: Data Analysis (2014)
• Lightning Fires and Lightning Strikes (2013)

Featured report

The Invisible Fire Problem

The report shows that the understanding of fire risk faced by vulnerably sheltered persons is a product of the probability of a credible fire event occurring and the measure of the possibility of death or injury to an occupant resulting from that event.

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Victims of fire risk

• The Invisible Fire Problem (2022)
• Physical Disability as a Factor in Home Fire Deaths (2022)
• Home Fire Victims by Age and Gender (2021)
• Review of Impact of Medications on Older Adult Fall and Fire Risk (2021)
• Poverty and the Risk of Fire (2021)
  

Vehicle fires

• Fire Damage and Loss Assessment of Recreational Vehicles (RVs) (2020)
• Vehicle Fires (2020)

The environment

• Environmental Impact of Fires in the Built Environment: Emission Factors (2022)
• Research Roadmap: Environmental Impact of Fires in the Built Environment (2020)

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