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.

Report

Large-Loss Fires in the United States

This report contains overall statistics from NFPA's annual study of large-loss fires, defined as fires or explosions that result in property damage of at least $10 million. The data for this study is obtained by the NFPA from responding fire departments. The report includes patterns of loss by type of property, cause of fire, and presence and effectiveness of automatic detection and suppression systems.

Download the report.

Overall US fire numbers

• Large-Loss Fires in the United States (2021)
• Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires (2021)
• Fire Loss in the United States (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)

Victims of fire risk

• 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

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

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