Americans 'Misjudge' Fire Risk

Date: 02/22/2007
Number of Views: 1655

A nationwide survey conducted by the Society for Fire Protection Engineers found that 65% of Americans feel safer in their homes than they do in commercial high-rise buildings, despite the fact that 83% of all civilian fire deaths were the result of fires in the home.

Only 7% of Americans responded that they feel safer in a high-rise building than in a home, while 25% don’t feel any difference.

“Americans don’t necessarily think about all the technology in high-rise buildings like fire suppression and alarm systems, which are designed by fire protection engineers to dramatically reduce the risk of injury or death to people,” said Chris Jelenewicz, SFPE’s engineering program manager. “Additionally, since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, people think differently about high-rise building fire safety.”

The survey also reveals that 54% of Americans think about fire and the dangers of fire either on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. However, a sizeable 44% think about fire just once a year or less. The findings are consistent with previous years’ data.

Another noteworthy finding from the survey reveals that wealthy Americans think about the risk of fire less frequently than those with lower incomes.

Fifteen percent of people surveyed with a household income under $25,000 think about fire on a daily basis, whereas only 8% of those surveyed with a household income above $75,000 do so.

The findings support other research that has found a connection between one’s income and the chance of death or injury caused by a fire. Those in lower income groups are more at risk, according to the studies.

The survey was commissioned by the Society for Fire Protection Engineers in conjunction with National Engineering Week, Feb. 18–24, and was conducted in January 2007 by Synovate, polled more than one thousand American adults. The findings have a margin of error of 3%.