Fire loss in the United States

Report*

Fire Loss in the United States During 2021

On average, a fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the US every 23 seconds in 2021. A civilian was fatally injured in a fire every two hours and 18 minutes. Every 36 minutes, a civilian suffered a nonfatal fire injury. The fire and fire loss estimates in this analysis are derived from NFPA’s 2021 fire experience survey (FES). Only fires reported to local fire departments are included.

Download the report.

Trend Tables

The tables in this document are a companion to the report of the same name.

Download the tables

Key findings

• Local fire departments responded to 1,353,500 fires in 2021. These fires caused 3,800 civilian deaths, 14,700 civilian injuries and $15.9 billion in property damage.
• Every 23 seconds, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 65 seconds, and a home fire occurs every 93 seconds.
• Seventy-five percent of all fire deaths were caused by home fires. This includes the 64 percent that resulted from fires in one- or two-family homes and the 11 percent caused by fires in apartments or other multi-family housing.
• Eighteen percent of fire deaths were caused by vehicle fires.

Additional information

• Fire Loss in the United States During 2020

Contact us

Please contact us with any questions.