• Overall fire statistics
• Major causes
• Fire service statistics
• Needs assessment
• Appliances & equipment
• Economic impacts
• Fire protection systems
• International comparisons
• Occupancies
• Regional/community patterns
• Brush, grass and forest fires
• Vehicles
• Victim patterns
• Miscellaneous
• Non-fire incidents
• Errata

Fire protection systems

Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires
Marty Ahrens, September 2011
Cost: $25.00 (free to the fire service). 101 pages. Order # USS04.
Report includes statistics on home smoke alarm usage, effectiveness, operationality, and home fire fatalities in fires with and without working smoke alarms. Also includes home fire death rate with different combinations of fire protection equipment. Brief discussion of literature on audibility and waking effectiveness.

Abstract: Almost all households in the U.S. have at least one smoke alarm, yet in 2005-2009, smoke alarms were present in less than three-quarters (72%) of all reported home fires and operated in half (51%) of the reported home fires. (“Homes” includes one- and two-family homes, apartments, and manufactured housing.) More than one-third (38%) of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms, while one-quarter (24%) resulted from fires in homes in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate. The death rate per 100 reported fires was twice as high in homes without a working smoke alarm as it was in home fires with this protection. Hardwired smoke alarms are more reliable than those powered solely by batteries.

These estimates are based on data from the U.S. Fire Administration’s (USFA’s) National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) annual fire department experience survey. 
All visitors: Download this report. (PDF, 434 KB)
All visitors: Download the executive summary for this report. (PDF, 140 KB)
All visitors: Download a fact sheet on smoke alarms in reported U.S. home fires. (PDF, 94 KB)

Also available: Smoke Alarm Presence and Performance in U.S. Home Fires an article by Marty Ahrens, NFPA, October 2010. This article was published online by Fire Technology on October 23, 2010.
All visitors: Download this article. (PDF, 485 KB) 

Fire Alarm Response and Management Summit - Proceedings Summary
May 2011. 8 pages.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs, U.S. Fire Admnistration and NFPA hosted a summit in May 2011 to discuss the issues surroundiing unwanted and nuisance alarms and the risks associated with them.
All visitors: Download this report. (PDF, 409 KB) 

Unwanted Fire Alarms
April 2011
35 pages, Order #USS90
“This report, prepared for the International Association of Fire Chief’s May 2011 Fire Alarm Response and Management Summit, contains estimates of fire department responses to false alarms, public experience with unwanted fire alarms, causes of these alarms, and possible policies to address them.  Detailed tables about fire department responses to false alarms in 2003 are also provided.”

Abstract: Unwanted fire alarms are a problem for the fire service, businesses, and the public. In 2009, fire departments went to 16 false alarms for every 10 fires, and 45 false alarms for every 10 structure fires. In 2009, almost half (45%) of false alarm responses were to unintentional activations, one-third (32%) were due to system malfunctions, 8%  resulted from malicious or mischievous false alarms, and 15% were due to other false alarms. The ratio of smoke alarm activations to actual fires is even higher in surveys of the public than it is in fire department responses. 
All visitors: Download this report. (PDF, 128 KB) 
All visitors: Download the executive summary for this report. (PDF, 42 KB)

U.S. Experience with Sprinklers
John R. Hall, Jr., May 2011. 92 pages.
Includes statistics on how often sprinklers are reported in fires, by property use, and their estimated impact in reducing the average loss of life and property per fire. Includes statistics on performance, usage and reliability of sprinklers, as well as leading reasons when system fail to operate or operate but are ineffective. Also includes special study statistics on non-fire sprinkler activations.
All visitors: Download this report. (PDF, 337 KB).
All visitors: Download the executive summary for this report. (PDF, 72 KB)
All visitors: Download a printable fact sheet on sprinklers. (PDF, 72 KB) 

U.S. Experience with Non-Water-Based Automatic Fire Extinguishing Equipment
John R. Hall, Jr., May 2011. 27 pages
Includes statistics on usage and performance of non-water-based automatic extinguishing systems, principally wet or dry chemical systems, including how often they are reported in fires, overall and by major property use reporting their presence, as well as statistics on estimated reliability and effectiveness, as well as leading reasons when systems fail to operate or operate but are ineffective. 
All visitors: Download this report. (PDF, 216 KB)
All visitors: Download the executive summary for this report. (PDF, 128 KB)