Intentional structure fires

Report and tables

Intentional Structure Fires

Each year, U.S. municipal fire departments respond to fires that were intentionally set. This report contains detailed analysis of intentionally set fires involving structures, while also reporting the total number of intentionally set fires in vehicles and outside or unclassified fires.

Download the report.

Tables

This printable fact sheet includes quick stats from the Intentional Fires report.

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Report highlights

• Municipal fire departments in the United States responded to an estimated annual average of 52,260 intentionally set structure fires in the five-year period from 2014 to 2018.
• These fires caused an estimated 400 civilian deaths, 950 civilian injuries, and $815 million in direct property damage each year.
• Three in five intentional structure fires occurred in residential properties and most of these fires involved homes.
• More than half of intentional structure fires were ignited by either a lighter or match.

Additional resources, including a free downloadable presentation on preventing arson can be found at www.nfpa.org/arson. 

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