The U.S. fire problem

U.S. home structure fires

In 2011, U.S. fire departments responded to 370,000 home structure¹ fires. These fires caused 13,910 civilian injuries, 2,520 civilian deaths, $6.9 billion in direct damage.

Fact sheet: home structure fires in the U.S. (PDF, 51 KB)

92% of all civilian structure fire deaths resulted from home structure fires.
Cooking is the leading cause of home structure fires and home fire injuries.
Kitchens are the leading area of origin for home structure fires (42%) and civilian home fire injuries (37%).
Only 4% of home fires started in the living room, family room, or den; these fires caused 24% of home fire deaths.
Seven percent of reported home fires started in the bedroom. These fires caused 25% of home fire deaths, 20% of home fire injuries, and 14% of the direct property damage.
Smoking is a leading cause of civilian home fire deaths.
Home structure fires peak around dinner hours between 5:00 and 8:00 pm.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
Most fatal fires kill one or two people. In 2011, 12 home fires killed five or more people. These 12 fires resulted in 67 deaths.

¹Homes are dwellings, duplexes, manufactured homes, apartments, townhouses and rowhouses.

Home structure fires by year

Year	Fires	Civilian deaths	Civilian injuries	Direct property damage (In billions) As reported	Direct property damage (In billions) In 2011 dollars
1977	723,500	5,865	21,640	$2.0	$10.1
1978	706,500	6,015	20,400	$2.1	$7.1
1979	696,500	5,500	18,825	$2.4	$7.4
1980	734,000	5,200	19,700	$2.8	$7.8
1981	711,000	5,400	19,125	$3.1	$7.7
1982	654,500	4,820	20,450	$3.1	$7.3
1983	625,500	4,670	20,750	$3.2	$7.2
1984	605,500	4,075	18,750	$3.4	$7.3
1985	606,000	4,885	19,175	$3.7	$7.7
1986	565,500	4,655	18,575	$3.5	$7.1
1987	536,500	4,570	19,965	$3.6	$7.1
1988	538,500	4,955	22,075	$3.9	$7.4
1989	498,500	4,335	20,275	$3.9	$7.0
1990	454,500	4,050	20,225	$4.2	$7.2
1991	464,500	3,500	21,275	$5.5¹	$9.0¹
1992	459,000	3,705	21,100	$3.8	$6.0
1993	458,000	3,720	22,000	$4.8²	$7.4²
1994	438,000	3,425	19,475	$4.2	$6.4
1995	414,000	3,640	18,650	$4.3	$6.3
1996	417,000	4,035	18,875	$4.9	$7.0
1997	395,500	3,360	17,300	$4.5	$6.2
1998	369,500	3,220	16,800	$4.3	$5.9
1999	371,000	2,895	16,050	$5.0	$6.7
2000	368,000	3,420	16,975	$5.5	$7.2
2001	383,500	3,110	15,200	$5.5	$7.0
2002	389,000	2,670	13,650	$5.9	$7.4
2003	388,500	3,145	13,650	$5.9³	$7.3³
2004	395,500	3,190	13,700	$5.8	$6.9
2005	381,000	3,030	13,300	$6.7	$7.7
2006	396,000	2,580	12,500	$6.8	$7.6
2007	399,000	2,865	13,600	$7.4⁴	$8.0⁴
2008	386,500	2,755	13,160	$8.2	$8.6⁵
2009	362,500	2,565	12,650	$7.6	$8.0
2010	369,500	2,640	13,350	$6.9	$7.1
2011	370,000	2,520	13,910	$6.9	$6.9

¹ Includes $1.5 billion in damage caused by the Oakland Fire Storm, most of which was loss to homes but for which no detailed breakdown by property type was available.
² Includes $809 million in damage caused by Southern California Wildfires.
³ Does not include the Southern California Wildfires.
⁴ Does not include the California Fire Storm 2007 with an estimated property damage of $1.8 billion.
⁵ Does not include the CA wildfires 2008 with an estimated property damage of $1.4 billion.

"Homes" are dwellings, duplexes, manufactured homes (also called mobile homes), apartments, rowhouses, townhouses and condominiums. Other residential properties, such as hotels and motels, dormitories, barracks, rooming and boarding homes, and the like, are not included. Direct property damage figures do not include indirect losses, like business interruption. Inflation adjustment to 2011 dollars is done using the consumer price index. All are estimates of losses in fires reported to fire departments, based on data reported to NFPA's annual National Fire Experience Survey. Direct property damage figures have not been adjusted for inflation.

Sources:

Report: Home Structure Fires
Report: Fire Loss in the United States During 2011
Report: Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires for 2009

Updated: 9/12

			Overview of the U.S. fire problem

			Number of fires by type of fire

			Home fires

			Homes Fires with Ten or More Fatalities

			One- and two-family home fires (includes manufactured homes)

			Structure fires

			Residential structure fires

			Non-residential structure fires

			Apartment structure fires

			Non-home structure fires

			U.S. highway vehicle fires