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In 2002, 79% of fires in the United States occurred in the home, resulting in 2,670 fire deaths.
In the U.S., someone dies from a home fire roughly every 197 (2002) minutes.
Roughly half of all home fire deaths in the U.S. resulted from fires that were reported between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. But only one-quarter of home fires occur between those hours.
Although children five and under make up about 9% of the country's population, they accounted for 17% of the home fire deaths.
Smoking was the leading cause of home fire deaths overall, but in the months of December, January and February, smoking and heating equipment caused similar shares of fire deaths.
Since the 1970's, when smoke alarms first became widely available to households in the United States, the home fire death rate has been reduced by half.
Nineteen of every 20 homes (95%) in the U.S. have at least one smoke alarm.
More than half of home fire deaths result from fires in the 5% of homes with no smoke alarms.
In one-quarter of the reported fires in homes equipped with smoke alarms, the devices did not work, most often because of missing, dead or disconnected batteries.
In a 1999 survey, only eight percent of those whose smoke alarms had sounded in the past year initially thought that a fire had caused the alarm to sound and thought they should get out of their homes as a result.
Smoke alarms that are 10 years old have a 30% chance of failing to work properly and should be replaced.
During the months of December, January and February, heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires. About two-thirds of home heating fire deaths were caused by portable or fixed space heaters.
Over the last decade, candle fires have almost tripled. In 1999 alone, an estimated 15,040 home fires started by candles were reported to fire departments. These fires resulted in 102 deaths, 1,473 injuries and an estimated property loss of $278 million.
Forty percent of U.S. home candle fires begin in the bedroom.
December had almost twice the number of home candle fires of an average month.
More fires start in the kitchen than in any other place in the home.
Cooking fires are the #1 cause of home fires and home fire injuries.
Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires.
Fires started by electrical arcs, overloads and other electrical failures kill hundreds of people and injure thousands each year.
In 1999, electrical distribution equipment was the fourth leading cause of home structure fires, but ranked first in cause of direct property damage.
Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths and the third leading cause of fire injuries in the U.S.
Roughly one of every four fire deaths in the 1999 was attributed to smoking materials.
The most common material first ignited in residential smoking material-related fires was mattresses and bedding, followed by trash and upholstered furniture.
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