USFA Releases Residential Building Fires Report

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) recently announce the release of a special report focusing on the causes and characteristics of fires in residential buildings. The report, Residential Building Fires (2007–2009), was developed by USFA's National Fire Data Center. Residential buildings include what are commonly referred to as homes, whether they are one- or two-family dwellings or multifamily buildings. It also includes manufactured housing, hotels and motels, residential hotels, dormitories, assisted living facilities, and halfway houses.

According to the report:

• An estimated 374,900 residential building fires are reported to U.S. fire departments each year and cause an estimated 2,630 deaths, 13,075 injuries, and $7.6 billion in property loss.
• Cooking is the leading cause of residential building fires (44 percent). Nearly all residential building cooking fires are small, confined fires (94 percent).
• Residential building fire incidence is higher in the cooler months, peaking in January at 11 percent.
• Residential building fires occur most frequently in the early evening hours, peaking during the dinner hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., when cooking fires are high.
• Forty-six percent of nonconfined residential building fires extend beyond the room of origin. The leading causes of these larger fires are electrical malfunctions (16 percent), unintentional or careless actions (15 percent), intentional (12 percent), and open flame (11 percent).
• Smoke alarms were not present in 21 percent of the larger, nonconfined fires in occupied residential buildings.

To access the complete report, please visit:

USFA: Residential Building Fires (2007–2009) (September 2011)