U.S. Home Structure Fires:
- During 2005-2009, there was an average of 373,900 home fires each year, resulting in an annual average of 2,650 deaths, 12,890 injuries, and $7.1 billion in property damage.
- During 2005-2009, roughly one of every 310 households had a reported home fire per year.
- Almost half of home fires (47%) and more than half (54%) of home fire deaths occur in the cooler months of November through March.
Cooking Fires: - Cooking equipment is the leading cause of reported home structure fires and injuries. It is also the leading cause of unreported fires.
- During 2004-2008, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 154,700 home cooking fires each year. These fires caused an annual average of 460 deaths, 4,850 injuries, and $724 million in property damage.
- Unattended cooking equipment is the leading cause of home cooking fires.
- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that in 2004-2005, for every household cooking fire reported to the fire department, U.S. households experienced 50 cooking equipment fires that they did not report.
- Two of every five reported home fires started in the kitchen or cooking area.
- Home fires involving cooking peak on dates that are major U.S. holidays with traditions of cooking, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Christmas Eve.
Home Fire Victims: - Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
- Children under five years old are almost 1-1/2 times more likely to die in a home fire as the average person.
- The peak months for home fires that cause child casualties are December through February.
- In 2007, nearly 510 children under the age of 15 died as a result of fires, another estimated 1,900 children were injured by fires.
- Adults over age 65 are more than twice as likely as the average person to die in a home fire.
- In one of every five fire deaths, the fire started when something that could catch fire was too close to a heat source.
Heating Fires: - Heating equipment is the second leading cause of home fires and home fire deaths.
- In 2008, heating equipment was involved in an estimated 66,100 home fires, resulting in 480 deaths, 1,660 injuries and $1.1 billion in property damage.
- Space heaters result in far more fires and losses than central heating devices and have higher risks relative to usage.
- 32% of home heating fires (approximately 21,000) and 82% of home heating fire deaths (394) are caused by space heaters.
Electrical Fires: - Home electrical distribution and lighting systems are the fourth leading cause of home fires, after cooking equipment, heating equipment, and intentional fires.
- In the United States, 50,900 fires each year are attributed to electrical failure or malfunction, resulting in 490 deaths and 1,440 injuries. Arcing faults are a major cause of these fires.
- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that AFCIs could prevent more than 50 percent of the electrical fires that occur every year.
- About 3,300 residential fires originate in extension cords each year, killing 50 people and injuring about 270 others.
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