NFPA Journal

BY MARTY AHRENS and BEN EVARTS

In 2019, local fire departments, including departments protecting towns, townships, cities, and counties, responded to an estimated 1,291,500 fires in the United States. These fires caused an estimated 3,704 civilian deaths, 16,600 civilian injuries, and $14.8 billion in direct property damage.

The fire and fire loss estimates in this analysis are derived from the 2019 NFPA fire department experience survey. Only fires reported to local fire departments are included. Firefighter fatalities and injuries are discussed in separate NFPA reports and are not included here.

On average, a fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the US every 24 seconds in 2019. A civilian was fatally injured in a fire every two hours and 22 minutes. Every 32 minutes, a civilian suffered a non-fatal fire injury. From 2018 to 2019, total fires fell 2 percent, civilian deaths rose 1 percent, civilian injuries increased by 9 percent, and fire property damage fell 42 percent, when the 2018 California fires in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) are included with their $12 billion in direct property damage. The WUI fires included a wide variety of incidents and property types; these could not be broken down further.

The estimate of total fires was 57 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, while fire death and injury estimates were 43 percent and 45 percent lower, respectively, over the same period. Property loss, adjusted for inflation, was 24 percent lower than in 1980.

Although US Census data show that the resident population of the US grew 44 percent from 1980 to 2019, the 3.9 fires per 1,000 population in 2019 was 70 percent lower than the 13.1 rate in 1980 and 3 percent lower than the 2018 rate. The 11.3 civilian fire deaths per million population in 2019 was 61 percent lower than the 28.6 rate in 1980 and 1 percent higher than in 2018.

Very small communities have a small number of fires compared to larger jurisdictions; the 10.2 fires per 1,000 thousand population for fire departments protecting communities with fewer than 2,500 people is 2.6 times the overall national rate. The rate of fires generally decreases as the population protected increases, with the lowest population-based rate of fires found in departments protecting populations of at least 250,000.

The data above tell only part of the story. To really understand the country’s fire problem, the progress we are making, and the challenges that remain, we need to know more about where fires occur, the types of fires that cause the most losses, the causes of these fires, and whether these fires and casualties are increasing or decreasing in actual numbers and in population-based rates.

Structure fires

In 2019, the estimated 481,500 structure fires (37 percent of all fires) caused 2,980 civilian fire deaths (80 percent of all civilian fire deaths), 13,900 (84 percent) civilian injuries, and $12.3 billion (83 percent) in direct property damage. In general, any fire in or on a structure is considered a structure fire, even if the structure itself was not damaged. On average, fire departments responded to a structure fire every 65 seconds, a structure fire death occurred every two hours and 56 minutes, and a structure fire injury occurred every 38 minutes.

From 2018 to 2019, structure fires overall fell 4 percent, civilian deaths rose 2 percent, civilian injuries rose 9 percent, and structure fire property damage rose 11 percent. The total structure fire estimate was 55 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, while structure fire death and injury estimates were 47 percent and 44 percent lower, respectively, over the same period. In most years, structure fires caused 80-90 percent of civilian fire deaths and injuries, with the events of September 11, 2001 contributing to a high of 92 percent structure fire deaths in 2001.

The average loss per structure fire, adjusted for inflation, was 45 percent higher in 2019 than in 1980.
 
In NFPA’s statistical analyses, the term “home” encompasses two broad categories of properties: one- or two-family homes, including manufactured housing, and apartments or other multi-family housing. Other residential properties include hotels and motels, dormitories, rooming houses, residential board and care, or unclassified residential properties. (Detached residential garages and storage sheds are grouped with storage properties in the non-residential category.) Homes are less stringently regulated than these other residential properties or most non-residential properties. Non-residential properties include those used for assembly, education, institutional/health care, stores and office, storage, and special structures.

In 2019, the estimated 361,500 (28 percent) total residential structure fires caused 2,870 (77 percent) civilian deaths, 12,700 (77 percent) civilian injuries, and $8 billion (54 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, residential structure fires fell 7 percent, civilian deaths rose 2 percent, civilian injuries rose 10 percent, and residential fire property damage fell 4 percent. The decrease in these fires was statistically significant. The residential structure fire estimate was 52 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, while residential structure fire death and injury estimates were 47 percent and 40 percent lower, respectively, over the same period.

Home structure fires

The 339,500 (26 percent) home structure fires in 2019 caused 2,770 (75 percent) civilian fire deaths, 12,200 (73 percent) of the civilian injuries, and $7.8 billion (52 percent) in direct property damage. On average, a home structure fire was reported every 93 seconds, a home fire death occurred every three hours and 10 minutes, and a home fire injury occurred every 43 minutes.

From 2018 to 2019, home structure fires fell 6 percent, civilian deaths rose 2 percent, civilian injuries rose 9 percent, and home fire property damage fell 3 percent. With homes accounting for 94 percent of residential structure fires, it is not surprising that the pattern for home fires resembles that of residential structure fires. The home structure fire estimate was 54 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, while estimates for home fire deaths and injuries were 47 percent and 38 percent lower, respectively. The population-based decreases over that period were even greater. The one home structure fire per thousand population in 2019 was 70 percent lower than the rate of 3.2 such fires in 1980. The 8.4 civilian home fire deaths per million population was 63 percent lower than the rate of 23.0 rate 40 years earlier. The trend line for reduction in home fire death rate and total fire death rate is very similar.

In 2019, the 264,500 (20 percent) one- or two-family home structure fires caused 2,390 (65 percent) civilian fire deaths, 8,800 (53 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $6.4 billion (43 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, fires in one- or two-family homes fell 6 percent while deaths rose 1 percent, injuries jumped 13 percent, and property damage was down 1 percent. The estimate of structure fires in one- or two-family homes was 55 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980.

Frigid temperatures challenged firefighters as they battled a January 2019 blaze in Maine. (Getty Images) 

Less progress has been made in reducing fire deaths in one- or two-family homes than in other structures. The estimate of deaths caused by one- or two-family home fires was only 43 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980. The injury estimate was 45 percent lower.

The 75,000 (6 percent) apartment or other multi-family housing fires caused 380 (10 percent) civilian fire deaths, 3,400 (20 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $1.3 billion (9 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, apartment fires fell 13 percent, while apartment fire deaths rose 6 percent, injuries were basically unchanged, and property damage fell 12 percent. The decrease in apartment fires was statistically significant.

The estimate of apartment structure fires was 48 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, while apartment fire deaths and apartment fire injuries were 63 percent and 6 percent lower, respectively. In 1980, only 15 percent of structure fire injuries were in apartments, the lowest percentage seen over the past four decades. In recent years, roughly one-quarter of structure fire injuries occurred in apartments.

Less progress has been made in reducing deaths and injuries in reported home fires. In 1980, there were 7.1 deaths per 1,000 reported home fires overall. This was also true for one- or two-family homes and apartments. Forty years later, the death rate per 1,000 fires had fallen 29 percent to 5.1 for apartment fires, increased 15 percent to 8.2 in overall home fires, and climbed even more to 9 deaths per 1,000 fires in one- or two-family homes. While rates fluctuated, there was only one year in which the death rate per 1,000 one- or two-family home fires was lower than it was in 1980. Apartment fire death rates had a fairly consistent downward trend. In most years, the rate for overall homes was higher than in 1980, due to the larger share of one- or two-family homes.

The 2019 rate of 45.3 civilian injuries per 1,000 apartment fires was 81 percent higher than the 1980 rate of 25.1. For one- or two-family home fires, the 2019 rate of 33.3 injuries per 1,000 fires was 22 percent higher than the 1980 rate of 27.3. The 35.9 injuries per 1,000 home fires overall in 2019 was 34 percent higher than the 26.8 rate in 1980.

Non-home structure fires

In 2019, an estimated 22,000 (2 percent) structure fires occurred in other residential properties, including unclassified residential structures, caused 100 (3 percent) civilian fire deaths, 500 (3 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $209 million (1 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, non-home residential structure fires fell 8 percent, deaths were basically unchanged, and injuries jumped 25 percent. Direct property damage fell 21 percent. The 2019 estimate of other residential structure fires was 6 percent lower than in 1980 and estimates of civilian fire deaths and injuries were 59 and 64 percent lower, respectively.

In 2019, the 120,000 (9 percent) non-residential structure fires caused 110 (3 percent) civilian fire deaths, 1,200 (7 percent) civilian injures, and $4.3 billion (29 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, non-residential structure fires rose 7 percent, associated deaths jumped 22 percent, injuries were up 9 percent, and direct property damage was up 55 percent. The 2019 estimate of non-residential structure fires was 61 percent lower than the 1980 estimate, while the estimate for civilian deaths and injuries was 52 percent and 67 percent lower, respectively.


Firefighters battle a blaze at a dollar store in California in July 2019. (Getty Images)

Vehicle fires

Vehicle fires are an often overlooked part of the fire problem, yet in 2019 an estimated 223,000 vehicle fires (17 percent) caused 644 (17 percent) civilian fire deaths, 2,000 (12 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $2.2 billion (15 percent) in direct property damage. Eighty-five percent of these fires and associated casualties involved highway vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles in transit, buses, and other vehicles intended for use on roadways.

Vehicles that burn inside a garage or other structure but do not damage the structure or spread to other contents are counted as vehicle fires and are the exception to the structure fire definition discussed earlier.

From 2018 to 2019, vehicle fires overall increased 5 percent, while vehicle fire deaths increased 15 percent, vehicle fire injuries jumped 33 percent, and property damage rose 19 percent. The vehicle fire estimate was 53 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980, and estimates of deaths and injuries were 13 percent and 51 percent lower, respectively. As mentioned previously, the ratio estimation approach used by NFPA assigns more weight to surveys from rural fire departments. Vehicle fire death estimates in 2018 and 2019 were the highest in this decade.

The 189,500 highway vehicle fires (15 percent of total fires) caused 550 (15 percent) civilian fire deaths, 1,700 (10 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $1.6 billion (11 percent) in direct property damage. Fire departments responded to an average of one highway vehicle fire every 2 minutes and 46 seconds. From 2018 to 2019, highway vehicle fires rose 4 percent, while associated deaths rose 12 percent, injuries jumped 31 percent, and property damage rose 17 percent. The 2019 estimate of highway vehicle fires was 58 percent lower than the 1980 estimate, while the associated fire death estimate was only 15 percent lower. The 2019 injury estimate was 40 percent lower than four decades earlier.

Other non-highway vehicles, such as boats or ships, aircraft, trains, and agricultural, garden, or industrial vehicles, were involved in an estimated 33,500 (3 percent) vehicle fires in 2019. These fires caused 94 (3 percent) civilian deaths, 300 (2 percent) civilian injuries, and $584 million (4 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, other vehicle fires rose 8 percent, while associated deaths jumped 34 percent, injuries jumped 50 percent, and property damage increased by 23 percent. The 2019 estimate of other non-highway vehicle fires was more than twice the 1980 estimate. It is possible that more such vehicles, including boats, airplanes, construction, and garden vehicles, are in use today. Despite this large increase in fires, the estimate of deaths was only 4 percent higher and the injury estimate was 76 percent lower.

Outside and unclassified fires in 2019

The 587,000 (45 percent) outside or unclassified non-structural, non-vehicle fires caused 80 (2 percent) civilian fire deaths, 700 (4 percent) civilian fire injuries, and $304 million (2 percent) in direct property damage. Casualties are grouped together in this broad category and not subdivided further. A fire in an outside or unclassified property was reported every 54 seconds in 2019.

The 70,500 (5 percent) outside fires involving property of value, such as outside storage, crops, and timber, caused $206 million (1 percent) in direct property damage. Outside and unclassified fires also included 244,500 (19 percent) brush, grass, and wildland fires excluding crops and timber, and 177,500 (14 percent) outside rubbish fires. Property damage was not collected for these two incident types in NFPA’s survey. The remaining 94,500 (7 percent) other non-structural, non-vehicle fires caused $98 million (1 percent) in direct property damage. From 2018 to 2019, outside and other fires of all types combined fell 3 percent, while associated deaths fell 20 percent, injuries fell 30 percent, and direct property damage fell 3 percent (excluding the major wildland/urban interface fires in 2018). The decrease in injuries was statistically significant. Casualty estimates were not broken out for the specific outside fire incident types. The estimate of outside fires involving property of value, such as outside storage, crops, or timber, but not structures or vehicles, was stable, while property damage from these incidents fell 44 percent. Brush, grass, or wildland fires with no value or loss involved fell 9 percent. This was statistically significant. Outside rubbish fires rose 5 percent. Other fires fell 3 percent. Direct property damage from these other fires fell 44 percent.

The estimate of outside and other non-structural, non-vehicular fires was 60 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980. The death estimate from these fires was only 11 percent lower, while estimated injuries were only half as numerous. The estimate of outside fires involving property of value was 18 percent lower in 2019 than in 1980. The biggest decrease was seen in estimates of brush, grass, or wildland fires with no value or loss (66 percent), other fires (62 percent), and in outside rubbish fires (55 percent).

US fire department responses by incident type

Fire department responses have more than tripled since 1980. From 2018 to 2019, they increased by 1 percent. The scope of fire department responsibilities has broadened over the years to include more medical aid, rescues, and hazardous material incidents, as well as a wider variety of service calls and more requests for mutual aid. It also includes more false alarms.

During 2019, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated total of 37,272,000 calls, 3.4 times the 10,819,000 responses in 1980. In 2019, the 1,291,500 fires accounted for only 3 percent of total fire department responses. Fires were a larger share of the incidents in smaller departments. Ten percent of the responses by fire departments protecting fewer than 2,500 people were to fires, compared to 2 percent of responses by departments protecting at least 50,000.

While fires have declined, other types of incidents have increased. The 24,481,000 medical aid and rescue responses accounted for two-thirds (66 percent) of all fire department responses and were almost five times as frequent in 2019 as the 5,045,000 in 1980. Medical aid or rescue calls increased by 4 percent from 2018 to 2019.

According to 2016–2018 data from NFPA, most US fire departments provided at least some EMS services. Forty- five percent of all local fire departments provide basic life support (BLS), but not advanced life support (ALS), and 17 percent provided both BLS and ALS. Only 38 percent did not provide any EMS at all. The percentage of departments providing any EMS increased with the size of the population protected.

There were also five times as many mutual aid responses in 2019 (1,487,000) as the 274,000 in 1980. This category includes traditional case-by-case aid provided when specifically requested and aid automatically provided per a pre-arranged agreement. According to the organization ISO Mitigation, automatic aid for structure fires must be dispatched with the initial alarm. From 2018 to 2019, mutual aid responses fell 2 percent. While mutual aid accounted for 4 percent of fire department responses overall in 2019, the percentage of mutual aid calls was highest in the smallest departments.

The 2,893,000 false alarms in 2019 accounted for 8 percent of fire department responses and was more than triple the 896,500 in 1980. The frequency changed little from 2018 to 2019. Half of the false alarms in 2019 were unintentional calls, 31 percent were system malfunctions, 5 percent were malicious, and 14 percent were other or unclassified.

The 439,500 hazardous material responses in 2019 accounted for 1 percent of fire department calls while the 744,000 responses to other hazardous conditions, such as arcing wires and bomb removal, accounted for 2 percent. The 5,936,000 other responses, including service calls, smoke scares, and other good-intent calls, accounted for the remaining 16 percent of fire department responses. 

MARTY AHRENS is fire analysis research manager. BEN EVARTS is data collection & research manager in the Data & Analytics Department at NFPA. Top photograph: Getty Images