Fire Statistics

According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), the United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world. The USFA reports – National Fire Protection Association Fire Loss in the U.S. During 2004 Abridged Report and USFA's Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2004 give the following statistics for 2004:

• There were 3,900 civilians that lost their lives as the result of fire.
• There were 17,785 civilian injuries that occurred as the result of fire.
• There were 117 firefighters killed while on duty.
• Fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.
• 83 percent of all civilian fire deaths occurred in residences.
• Less than 1.6 million fires were reported. Many others went unreported, causing additional injuries and property loss.
• Direct property loss due to fires was estimated at $9.8 billion.
• An estimated 36,500 intentionally set structure fires resulted in 320 civilian deaths.
• Intentionally set structure fires resulted in an estimated $714 million in property damage.

Smoke Inhalation

• Studies have shown that smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in 60 to 80 percent of fire victims.
• Inhalation injury greatly increases the incidence of respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
• The mortality rate following smoke inhalation ranges from 45% to 78%.
• The burn-related death rate is estimated to be 20% higher in people with combined inhalation injury and cutaneous burns than in those with cutaneous burns alone.

Special Populations

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, certain populations, such as senior citizens, children and certain minorities have the greatest risk of fire death:

• 2,500 children and 2,300 seniors were injured or killed in residential fires in the United States in 2002.
• The fire death risk is more than double for seniors over age 65, triple for those over age 75, and 3.5 times greater for those over age 85 compared to the risk for the general population.
• Children under the age of 10 account for an estimated 80 percent of all fire deaths.
• African American and Native American communities have significantly higher death rates per capita than the national average.

Additional information on fire statistics is available at the U.S. Fire Administration’s website www.usfa.fema.gov.