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Fire Risk to Children in 2004
"These short topical reports are designed to explore fac¬ets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in USFA's National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information." This edition of the Topical Fire Report Series focuses on fire risk to children in 2004. The findings from this report are: "1) The relative risk of children under age 15 dying in a fire is slightly lower than that for the general population. However, when dividing the young into subgroups, 50% of all child fire deaths occur to those under age 5. These children usually are unable to escape from a fire independently. 2) The number of fire injuries also are highest in the under-age-5 bracket, decline in the middle years, but rise again in the 10 to 14 age group. This is a different pattern than deaths, which decrease as children age. 3) Boys are at slightly higher risk of death from fire than girls. 4) African-American and American Indian/Alaska Native children are at an increased risk of death from fire."
United States Fire Administration
2008-02
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Fire Department Overall Run Profile
"These short topical reports are designed to explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in USFA's [United States Fire Administration] National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information." This report focuses on fire department overall run profiles. Findings from this report are: 1) Less than 10% of fire department runs are fires. 2) Over half of calls to fire departments require emergency medical service. 3) Approximately 11% of runs involve mutual or automatic aid. 4) Wireless telecommunication technologies create challenges for emergency dispatchers."
United States Fire Administration
2007-12
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Fires and Exposures
"Exposures are defined as anything in the immediate range of a fire that is not burning but could start burning if the fire is not contained. When enough oxygen is available, combustible material burns once its temperature reaches its ignition temperature. Preventing exposure fires requires protecting the objects from heat spread and thus from reaching their ignition temperatures. This is one of the most critical jobs in firefighting, as protecting exposures helps contain the fire and prevents fire spread. After rescuing individuals, protection of exposures is the highest priority for firefighters. Exposures can be internal or external. Internal exposures are within the property, such as a room or floor of a building. External exposures include other buildings, vehicles, and outside objects or vegetation such as trash, dumpsters, trees, or crops. External exposures are typically known as 'exposure fires.' These exposure fires and the source fires that cause them are the topic of this report."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States Fire Administration
2007-08
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Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings
"For many households and other establishments, the clothes dryer is an indispensable convenience and necessity. However, if clothes dryers are not properly installed or maintained, critical fires can occur. Using the latest 3 years of data, from 2002 to 2004, the yearly national fire loss for clothes dryer fires in structures is estimated at $99 million. Each year, these losses result from an estimated 15,600 fires that required a fire department response. These clothes dryer fires cause an annual average of approximately 400 injuries and 15 fatalities."
United States Fire Administration
2007-01
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Heating Fires in Residential Buildings [2006]
"Between 2002 and 2004, an annual average of 49,100 heating fires occurred in residential buildings and were responsible for an estimated 125 civilian fire deaths, 575 injuries, and $232 million in property loss. The term heating fires applies to those fires that are caused by functioning or malfunctioning central heating units, fixed or portable local heating units, fireplaces, heating stoves, chimneys, and water heaters. This topical report examines the causes and characteristics of heating fires that occur in residential buildings."
United States Fire Administration
2006-11
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Dangers of Fireworks [2005]
"It would be hard to imagine July 4th festivities in the United States without public displays of fireworks, and a number of other holidays, such as New Years, often call for big shows as well. But celebrations can become tragic when someone is injured by consumer fireworks. Despite federal and state regulations on the type of fireworks available for sale to the general public, even those fireworks that are sold legally carry an elevated risk of personal injury. Fireworks are considered hazardous materials with the potential to cause serious injury. All fireworks are regulated by the Federal Hazardous Substance Act, which prohibits sale of the more dangerous types to the public to avoid injury and property damage. Among these banned products are large, reloadable mortar shells, cherry bombs, aerial bombs, M-80s, and large firecrackers with more than 2 grains of powder. Likewise, all mail order kits to construct fireworks are strictly prohibited. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates fireworks that can be sold legally to consumers and is responsible for setting minimum standards, such as requiring firecrackers to have fuses that burn at least 3 seconds but not more than 9 seconds, and that all devices be sealed to prevent leakage of pyrotechnic material. Further, all legal fireworks must have labels with instructions for safe use, as well as warnings and precautions."
United States Fire Administration
2005-06
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Residential Fires and Child Casualties
This edition of the Topical Fire Report Series focuses on child casualties in residential fires. The findings from this report are: "1) In 2002, an estimated 2,490 children age 14 or younger were injured or killed in residential fires. Fifty-six percent of child fire casualty deaths were under the age of 5. 2) Fires and burns were the third leading cause of unintentional fatal injuries to children age 14 or younger in 2002. They were the third leading cause of unintentional injuries to infants and the 12th overall cause of unintentional injuries to children age 14 or younger, accounting for 121,000 injuries in 2002. 3) Arson, open flame, and heating were the leading causes of fires resulting in child fire deaths in 2002. Open flame, arson, and cooking were the leading causes of fires resulting in child fire injuries. Child playing fires were not a significant cause of either deaths or injuries among children in 2002. 4) Upholstered furniture, cooking materials, bedding, and mattresses were the primary materials first ignited in fires that resulted in child casualties."
United States Fire Administration
2005-04
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Fire Risk to Children
This edition of the Topical Fire Report Series focuses on fire risk to children. The findings from this report are: "1) The relative risk of children under age 15 dying in a fire is about the same as the general population. However, when dividing the young into subgroups, over 50% of all child fire deaths occur to those under age 5. These children are usually unable to escape from a fire independently.2) The number of fire injuries are also highest in the under age 5 bracket, decline in the middle years, but rise again in the 10--14 age group. This is a different pattern than deaths, which decrease as children age. 3) Boys are at higher risk of death from fire than girls. African American and American Indian children are at an increased risk of death from fire. 4) Children in the poorest homes face the greatest risk of death.5) Children playing is the leading cause of child fire injuries; suspicious (arson) activity is the leading cause of child deaths. One−third of arson fires are attributed to children under age 15. 6) Fire deaths and injuries have declined over the past decade--both to children and the general population. A major reason for the decline is the greater prevalence of smoke alarms. The mandatory 1994 safety standard that required disposable lighters to be child resistant has prevented thousands of fires in which children would have been at risk."
United States Fire Administration
2004-12
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Restaurant Fires
"Restaurants pose unique fire risks as they gather potentially large numbers of customers at one time, while engaging in cooking activities that inherently pose the risk of fire. This topical report examines the causes and characteristics of reported restaurant structure fires in 2002 and compares such characteristics with those of all non−residential structure fires. There were an estimated 7,100 fires in 2002, resulting in an estimated 108 injuries and $116 million in property loss. Although this report contains no estimates of deaths from restaurant fires for 2002, the potential for fire fatalities exists in any building or property where people congregate. Fires in restaurants caused more property damage per fire than the average structure fire (Figure 1), but less property damage than the average non−residential structure fire. This less−than−average property loss is due to the large number of cooking fires that were confined to the cooking vessel (41% of all restaurant fires) and resulted in small or no−loss fires. Also, restaurant kitchens are usually equipped with fire extinguishers so that fires are often extinguished before severe property damage is incurred. The average number of deaths and injuries per 1,000 fires was considerably less than the average structure fire, which includes residential homes, but similar to the casualty rates for non−residential structures."
United States Fire Administration
2004-10
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Grill Fires
"Each year, the fire service responds to an estimated 6,500 grill fires. These fires account for 150 civilian injuries, less than 5 civilian deaths, and $27.6 million in property loss (Figure 1). Together, these three areas account for two-thirds of all residential grill fires. Of these grill fires, 71% occur in residential areas. In residential areas, 63% of grill fires occur outside the structure, while 32% percent are coded as 'structure fires.' This report examines the characteristics of all grill fires, with specific focus on outdoor grill fires occurring in residential areas-the most common type of grill fire." This paper was revised March 2002.
United States Fire Administration
2002-03
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Highway Vehicle Fires
"From 1996 to 1998, there were an estimated annual average of 377,000 highway vehicle (automobiles, vans, trucks) fires. (Highway vehicle fires represent more than 96% of all mobile property fires.) Each year, these fires resulted in an average of approximately 515 deaths, 3,000 injuries, and $1.1 billion in property loss. This report addresses the characteristics of 1998 highway vehicle fires. Data are from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Figure 1 compares losses from vehicle fires with those of all reported fires averaged over a 3-year period (1996-98)." This paper was revised March 2002.
United States Fire Administration
2002-03
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Medical Facility Fires [October 2001]
"Each year in the United States, an average of 2,500 fires occur in medical facilities, resulting in approximately 5 civilian fire deaths, 125 injuries, and $8.7 million in property loss. Medical facilities include hospitals, clinics, infirmaries, and other facilities that provide care to the sick and injured. Fires in these facilities can be particularly dangerous due to the presence of oxygen and other flammable substances and the challenge of evacuating patients who may not be ambulatory." This topical report, revised March 2002, presents an overview of some characteristics of these fires.
United States Fire Administration
2002-03
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Outdoor Fires [2002]
"This report examines the causes and characteristics of fires that occur outdoors. Each year between 1996 and 1998, there were an estimated 867,300 outdoor fires in the United States-approximately half of all fires reported to fire departments. Outdoor fires resulted in approximately 850 civilian injuries, 30 civilian deaths, and $55.3 million property loss."
United States Fire Administration
2002-01
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Fire-Related Firefighter Injuries Reported to NFIRS
"Every occupation brings degrees of safety risk. At the fire scene, on the way to or from a fire, or even while training, firefighters face the chance of suffering an injury and possibly death. Each year, tens of thousands of fire-fighters are injured while fighting fires, rescuing people, responding to emergency medical incidents, responding to hazardous material incidents, or training for their job. Between the years of 2006 and 2008, there were an estimated 81,070 firefighter injuries of which 39,715 occurred on the fireground. While the majority of injuries are minor, a significant number are debilitating and career-ending. Such injuries exact a great toll on the fabric of the fire service. From the need to adjust staffing levels and rotations to accommodate injuries, to the focus of the fire service on injury prevention, injuries and their prevention are a primary concern. In addition, the fire service has done much to improve firefighter safety. Firefighter health and safety initiatives, incident command structure, training, and protective gear are but a few areas where time, energy, and resources have been well-spent. Nonetheless, firefighting is, by its very nature, a hazardous profession. Injuries can and do occur. This topical report addresses the details of firefighter injuries sustained at or responding to a fire incident, focusing on data submitted to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 2006 to 2008. The statistics presented are from the analysis of the 2006 to 2008 NFIRS, version 5.0 data."
United States Fire Administration
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Nursing Home Fires (2012-2014)
"For each year from 2012 to 2014, an estimated 5,700 medical facility fires were reported to fire departments in the United States. Nearly half of those, 2,700 fires, were in nursing homes. It is estimated that these fires caused fewer than five deaths, 125 injuries and $13 million in property loss per year."
United States Fire Administration; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Residential Building Fires (2017-2019)
From the Document: "These topical reports are designed to explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information. Also included are recent examples of fire incidents that demonstrate some of the issues addressed in the report or that put the report topic in context. [...] As part of a series of topical reports that address fires in types of residential buildings, this report addresses the characteristics of all residential building fires as reported to NFIRS. The focus is on fires reported from 2017 to 2019, the most recent data available at the time of the analysis. NFIRS data is used for the analyses throughout this report."
United States Fire Administration; National Fire Data Center (U.S.); United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
