Lightning Fires and Lightning Strikes

Report and fact sheet

Lightning Fires and Lightning Strikes

This analysis of lightning fires and lightning strikes includes information on incident type, and when and where the incidents occurred. Also includes selected published incident descriptions.

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Fact sheet

This printable fact sheet includes quick stats from the Lightning Fires and Lightning Strikes report.

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Report highlights

• During 2007-2011, U.S. local fire departments responded to an estimated average of 22,600 fires per year that were started by lightning. These fires caused an average of nine civilian deaths, 53 civilian injuries, and $451 million in direct property damage per year. Most of these fires occurred outdoors, but most associated deaths, injuries, and property damage were associated with home fires.
• Lightning-related fires are more common in June through August and in the late afternoon and evening. Peak seasons for lightning-related fires vary by region, as do weather patterns in general.   
• In addition to the fires reported to local fire departments, federal and state wildland firefighting agencies reported an average of 9,000 wildland fires started by lightning to the National Interagency Fire Center per year in 2008-2012. These fires tended to be larger than fires started by human causes.  The average lightning-caused fire burned 402 acres, nine times the average of 45 acres seen in human-caused wildland fires. 
• In addition to causing fires, lightning is dangerous on its own. Data from the National Weather Service show that in 2008-2012, an average of 29 people per year died as a result of lightning strikes. The most common location for these deaths was outside or in an open area. The average number of lightning flashes per square mile varies considerably by state, as does the death rate from lightning incidents. See http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov for more information.

Related report

Structure Fires Started By Lightning

Both home and non-home structure fires were higher in 1980 and then fairly stable through the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s. From 2002 to 2009, the numbers had generally been falling, but both types of structure fires increased from 2010 to 2012 before dropping again. Home structure fires increased slightly from 2013 to 2014.

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Safety tips

• It’s important to be prepared for this dangerous weather phenomenon. Download NFPA's lightning safety tips. (PDF) 

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