(2011-2013 Report)
Fires can strike anywhere – in structures, buildings, automobiles and the outdoors. Fires that affect our homes are often the most tragic and the most preventable. It is a sad fact, but each year over 75 percent of all civilian fatalities occurred as a result of fires in residential buildings – our homes.
Report findings
- Annually, an estimated 2,530 civilian fire fatalities resulted from 1,700 fatal fires in residential buildings and an estimated 372,900 residential building fires.
- Thermal burns and smoke inhalation were the primary symptoms leading to death, accounting for 90 percent of all fatalities in residential fires.
- Bedrooms, at 50 percent, were the leading specific location where civilian fire fatalities occurred in residential buildings.
- The time period from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. accounted for 52 percent of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings.
- At the time of their deaths, 36 percent of fire victims in residential buildings were trying to escape; an additional 33 percent were sleeping.
- “Other unintentional, careless” actions (15 percent) and “smoking” (14 percent) were the leading reported causes of fatal fires in residential buildings.
- Adults aged 50 to 69 accounted for 36 percent of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings.
~From the U.S. Fire Administration. For full article, visit: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/reports.html