Fire Loss in the United States 2010 report from the NFPA

NFPA 2010 Report and Analysis

The NFPA recently released its report on Fire Loss in the United States During 2010. According to the report, public fire departments responded to 1,331,500 fires last year, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the year before.

U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,331,500 fires. These fires resulted in 3,120 civilian fire fatalities, 17,720 civilian fire injuries and an estimated $11,593,000,000 in direct property loss. There was a civilian fire death every 169 minutes and a civilian fire injury every 30 minutes in 2010. Home fires caused 2,640, or 85%, of the civilian fire deaths. Fires accounted for five percent of the 28,205,000 total calls. Eight percent of the calls were false alarms; sixty-six percent of the calls were for aid such as EMS.

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In 2010, public fire departments responded to 1,331,500 fires in the United States, according to estimates based on data NFPA received from fire departments responding to its 2010 National Fire Experience Survey. This represents a slight decrease of 1.3 percent from the previous year and is the lowest since NFPA started using its current survey methodology in 1977 – 78.

An estimated 482,000 structure fires were reported to fire departments in 2010, an increase of 0.3 percent, or virtually no change from the year before. For the period from 1977 to 2010, inclusive, the number of structure fires peaked in 1977 when 1,098,000 structure fires occurred. The number of structure fires then decreased steadily, particularly in the 1980s, to 688,000 by the end of 1989, for an overall decrease of 37.3 percent from 1977. Since 1989, structure fires again decreased steadily for an overall decrease of 24.7 percent to 517,500 by the end of 1998. They stayed in the 505,000 to 530,500 range from 1999 to 2008, before dropping to 480,500 in 2009, and increasing in 2010.

Of the 2010 structure fires, 384,000 were residential fires, accounting for 79.7 percent of all structure fires, an increase of 1.9 percent from the year before. Of these residential structure fires, 279,000 occurred in one- and two-family homes, accounting for 57.9 percent of structure fires. Another 90,500 occurred in apartments, accounting for 18.8 percent of all structure fires.

NFPA 2010 Overview

For nonresidential structure fires, some property types showed notable changes. In public assembly occupancies, such fires decreased 17.2 percent to 12,000. In stores and offices, they increased 9.1 percent to 18,000. And in special structure properties, they dropped 11.1 percent to 20,000.

2010 Report Overview

• 1,331,500 fires were responded to by public fire departments, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the year before.
• 482,000 fires occurred in structures, an increase of 0.3 percent from 2009.
• 384,000 fires, or 80 percent of all structure fires, occurred in residential properties.
• 215,500 fires occurred in vehicles, a decrease of 1.6 percent from the year before.
• 634,000 fires occurred in outside properties, a decrease of 2.3 percent from 2009.

CIVILIAN FIRE DEATHS

• 3,120 civilian fire deaths occurred in 2010, an increase of 3.7 percent from 2009.
• About 85 percent of all fire deaths occurred in the home.
• 2,640 civilian fire deaths occurred in the home, an increase of 2.9 percent from 2009.
• 285 civilians died in highway vehicle fires.
• 90 civilians died in nonresidential structure fires.

CIVILIAN FIRE INJURIES

• 17,720 civilian fire injuries occurred in 2010, an increase of 3.9 percent from the year before.
• 13,800 of all civilian injuries occurred in residential properties, while 1,620 occurred in non-residential structure fires.

PROPERTY DAMAGE

• An estimated $11.6 billion in property damage occurred as a result of fire in 2010, a decrease of 7.5 percent from 2009.
• $9.7 billion of property damage occurred in structure fires.
• $7.1 billion of property loss occurred in residential properties.

INTENTIONALLY SET FIRES

• An estimated 27,500 intentionally set structure fires occurred in 2010, an increase of 3.8 percent from 2009.
• Intentionally set fires in structures resulted in 200 civilian deaths, an increase of 17.7 percent from the year before.
• Intentionally set structure fires also resulted in $585,000,000 in property loss, a decrease of 14.5 percent from 2009.
• 14,000 intentionally set vehicle fires occurred, a decrease of 6.7 percent from the year before, and caused $89,000,000 in property damage, a decrease of 17.6 percent.

Estimate of Fires by Type in the United States (1977-2010) NFPA Statistics