Report: NFPA's "Intentional Structure Fires"
Author: Richard Campbell
Issued: September 2021
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.
