National Fire Fatalities Statistics/Information

Date: 02/22/2007
Number of Views: 1649

In 2005, the latest year for which there is information available, 3,675 people were killed in fires across the United States with 82% of them occurring in residential occupancies, according to the U.S. Fire Administration and the Westerville Division of Fire.  On average, a fire breaks out in a home every 83 seconds and someone dies in a residential fire every 143 minutes.  In addition to the death toll, fires caused $7 billion in residential property damage in 2005.

Additional facts regarding fatal fires in the United States include:

• A vast majority of the victims in residential fires were killed by smoke, not burn injuries, by a ratio of 6:1. 
• Children under five and adults over 65 are at a higher risk from fires as compared to the average adult.
• Smoking is the leading cause of residential fatal fire deaths
• 28% of the fatal home fire victims were disabled in some way before the fire, including physical disabilities, age-related limitations or impairment from alcohol or drugs
• 40% of the fatal fire victims did not wake up before being killed
• It is estimated by the NFPA that 96% of the homes in the United States are equipped with smoke alarms, but not all of these are operational.
• Seventy-four percent of the residential fire deaths take place in homes where there are no smoke alarms or the smoke alarm did not operate.
• Home fire deaths would decrease by 36% if all homes had a working smoke alarm, according to the NFPA.
• In one- and two-family homes, residential sprinklers in combination with smoke alarms can reduce the number of fire deaths by 82%

Steps that you can take to protect yourself from becoming a victim of a tragic fire include:

• Live in housing equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system
• Make sure that you know two ways out, no matter where you are-in your home, apartment, at work, a restaurant, a movie theater or a nightclub.
• Whenever an alarm sounds-take action and get out!
• Install a smoke alarm on every level and in every bedroom
• Never disable smoke alarms or remove the batteries.  If a smoke alarm is regularly being activated by cooking or by steam from a shower, relocate it, don’t remove it.
• Maintain smoke alarms by replacing the batteries every year, cleaning the alarm on a regular basis and testing them monthly.
• Replace smoke alarms every ten years
• Interconnected smoke alarms, either hardwired or wireless, provide a higher level of safety, making sure that everyone will be alerted to a fire and have time to escape
• Properly dispose of smoking materials, making sure they are fully extinguished.
• Do not smoke in bed or while impaired.
• Check seat cushions to make sure there are no cigarettes that have rolled out of site.
• Use fire-safe cigarettes
• Get a fire extinguisher and, more importantly, learn how to use it before the fire breaks out.