Large-loss fires in the United States

Report & tables

Large-Loss Fires in the United States

This report contains overall statistics from NFPA's annual study of large-loss fires, defined as fires or explosions that result in property damage of at least $10 million. The data for this study is obtained by the NFPA from responding fire departments. The report includes patterns of loss by type of property, cause of fire, and presence and effectiveness of automatic detection and suppression systems.

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Report highlights

• In 2021, there were 24 large-loss fires or explosions in the United States. These included 20 structure fires, two wildland/urban interface fires, and two boat fires
• The estimated direct property damage caused by the 24 large-loss fires was $1.54 billion, accounting for 9.7 percent of the total estimated dollar loss from all fires reported in the 2021 Fire Loss Report.

• The number of incidents in 2021 (24) is tied for the second-lowest number of large-loss fires or explosions in a year in the last decade.

• In 2021, 14 fires, four more than the previous year, each resulted in more than $20 million in property damage. Four fires caused losses of $100 million or more each: two structure fires, a wildland fire, and a ship fire, for a combined loss of $1.1 billion.

• The Marshall Fire in Colorado in December 2021 was the costliest fire of 2021, with an estimated property loss of $678 million.

Related information

• Largest loss wildland fires
• Largest fire losses in the United States 

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