Fire Deaths and Injuries: Fact Sheet
Overview
Deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States (CDC 2006) and the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004). The United State’s mortality rate from fires ranks seventh among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available (International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics 2007).
Although the number of fatalities and injuries caused by residential fires has declined gradually over the past several decades, many residential fire-related deaths remain preventable and continue to pose a significant public health problem.
Occurrence and Consequences
- On average in the United States in 2008, someone died in a fire about every 158 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes (Karter 2009).
- Four out of five U.S. fire deaths in 2008 occurred in homes (Karter 2009).
- In 2008, fire departments responded to 403,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,755 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,560, not including firefighters (Karter 2009).
- Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns (Hall 2001).
- Smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths (Ahrens 2009a).
- Cooking is the primary cause of residential fires (Ahrens 2009a).
Cost
Fire and burn injuries represent 1% of the incidence of injuries and 2% of the total costs of injuries, or $7.5 billion each year (Finkelstein et al. 2006).
- Males account for $4.8 billion (64%) of the total costs of fire/burn injuries.
- Females account for $2.7 billion (36%) of the total costs of fire/burn injuries.
- Fatal fire and burn injuries cost $3 billion, representing 2% of the total costs of all fatal injuries.
- Hospitalized fire and burn injuries total $1 billion, or 1% of the total cost of all hospitalized injuries.
- Non-hospitalized fire and burn injuries cost $3 billion, or 2% of the total cost of all non-hospitalized injuries.
Groups at Risk
Groups at increased risk of fire-related injuries and deaths include:
- Children 4 and under (CDC 1998; Flynn 2008);
- Older Adults ages 65 and older (CDC 1998; Flynn 2008);
- African Americans and Native Americans (CDC 1998; Flynn 2008);
- The poorest Americans (Istre 2001; Flynn 2008);
- Persons living in rural areas (Ahrens 2003; Flynn 2008);
- Persons living in manufactured homes or substandard housing (Runyan 1992; Parker 1993).
Risk Factors
- Approximately 4 out of 10 home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms (Ahrens 2009b).
- Most residential fires occur during the winter months (CDC 1998; Flynn 2008).
- Alcohol use contributes to an estimated 40% of residential fire deaths (Smith 1999).
Related Resources
Protect the Ones You Love: Burns
Chart
of State-level Smoking and Residential Fire Death Rates, 2004 (
31KB PDF)
Learn More about How to Prevent Home Fires
Ahrens M. The U.S. fire problem overview report: leading causes and other patterns and trends. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association; 2003.
Ahrens M. Home structure fires. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association; 2009a.
Ahrens M. Smoke alarms in U.S. home fires. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association; 2009b.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths resulting from residential fires and the prevalence of smoke alarms - United States 1991–1995. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1998; 47(38): 803–6.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National vital statistics system. Hyattsville (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 1998.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2005). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). Available from: URL: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. [Cited 2006 Aug 21].
Finkelstein EA, Corso PS, Miller TR, Associates. Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.
Flynn JD. Characteristics of home fire victims. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association; 2008.
Hall JR. Burns, toxic gases, and other hazards associated with fires: Deaths and injuries in fire and non-fire situations. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division; 2001.
International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. World fire statistics: information bulletin of the world fire statistics. Geneva (Switzerland): The Geneva Association; 2007.
Istre GR, McCoy MA, Osborn L, Barnard JJ, Bolton A. Deaths and injuries from house fires. New England Journal of Medicine 2001;344:1911–16.
Karter MJ. Fire loss in the United States during 2008,. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division; 2009.
Parker DJ, Sklar DP, Tandberg D, Hauswald M, Zumwalt RE. Fire fatalities among New Mexico children. Annals of Emergency Medicine 1993;22(3):517–22.
Runyan CW, Bangdiwala SI, Linzer MA, Sacks JJ, Butts J. Risk factors for fatal residential fires. New England Journal of Medicine 1992;327(12):859–63.
Runyan SW, Casteel C (Eds.). The state of home safety in America: Facts about unintentional injuries in the home, 2nd edition. Washington, D.C.: Home Safety Council, 2004.
Smith GS, Branas C, Miller TR. Fatal nontraffic injuries involving alcohol: a meta-analysis. Annals of Emergency Medicine 1999;33(6):659–68.
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
4770 Buford Hwy, NE
MS F-63
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov
