Home Fires That Began with Upholstered Furniture

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Home Fires That Began With Upholstered Furniture

This analysis of the circumstances of home upholstered furniture fire includes a comparison of upholstered furniture fires started by smoking materials vs. fires started by candles, matches or lighters, as well as an examination of smoke alarms in home upholstered furniture fires.

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Report highlights

• In 2010-2014, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 5,630 home structure fires per year in which upholstered furniture was the first item ignited.  These fires killed an average of 440 people per year.
• Overall, fires beginning with upholstered furniture accounted for 2% of reported home fires but 18% of home fire deaths during this period.
• One-quarter (27%) of these fires were started by smoking materials. Half (50%) of the home upholstered furniture fire deaths were caused by fires started by smoking material fires.

Related reports

• White Paper on Upholstered Furniture Flammability (PDF), September 2013
• Estimating Fires When a Product is the Primary Fuel but not the First Fuel, With an Application to Upholstered Furniture (PDF), February 2014.

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