Here are a few national statistics about fire that we think you’ll find interesting.
- Fire departments respond to a fire every 24 seconds.
- In 2010, the NFPA reported:
- 482,000 structure fires
- a structure fire every 65 seconds
- In 2010, the 1,331,500 fires reported in the United States caused:
- 3,120 civilian deaths
- 17,720 civilian injuries
- $11.6 billion in property damage
- In 2010, residential building fires caused losses of more than $6.6 billion.
- Sprinklers decrease the fire death rate per 1,000 reported home fires by 83 percent and the average loss per home fire by 71 percent.
- Fire losses associated with homeowners and commercial insurance claims accounted for an estimated 57 percent and 21 percent, respectively, of total fire losses in 2010.
- For the third consecutive year, the U.S. Fire Administration reports firefighter fatalities in duty-related incidents are under 100.
- Fire is the third leading cause of accidental death in the home.
Sources: NFPA 2010; USFA 2010; Insurance Information Institute; John R. Hall Jr., U.S. Experience with Sprinklers, NFPA, Quincy, MA, May 2011