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NBSIR 83-2754

Civilian Residential Fire Fatality

Rates: Six High-Rate States

Versus Six Low- Rate States

U S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Fire Research

Washington, DC 20234

August 1983

Sponsored in part by:

Federal Emergency Management Agency

U.S. Fire Administration

Washington, DC 20472

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RATES: SIX HIGH-RATE STATES

VERSUS SIX LOW-RATE STATES

John R. Hall, Jr. Susan G Helzer

U S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

National Engineering Laboratory

Center for Fire Research

Washington, DC 20234

August 1 983

Sponsored in part by:

Federal Emergency Management Agency

U S. Fire Administration

Washington, DC 20472

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Ernest Ambler. Director
.... - .
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF TABLES iv

Abstract 1

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. REVIEW OF PROJECT METHODOLOGY AND OVERALL PATTERNS 2

3. FIRE-DEATH RATE PATTERNS FOR HIGH- VERSUS LOW-RATE STATES 6

3.1 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Age of Victim 7 3.2 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Race and Sex of Victim 8

3.3 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Age, Race and Sex of Victim .... 9

3.4 Fire-Death Rates by Cause 12

3.5 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Condition Before Ignition 16

4. CONCLUSIONS 21

5. REFERENCES 22

APPENDIX A. CODING STRUCTURES 24

iii
LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1. Civilian residential fire-death totals and fire-death rates

for HIGH and LOW states 3 Table 2. Estimated populations by state 6 Table 3* Overall fire-death rates per million population 6

Table 4. Age distributions of populations in HIGH versus LCW states . . 7 Table 5. Fire-death rates per million population by victim age,

HIGH versus LOW states 8 Table 6. Fire-death rates per million population by victim race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 9 Table 7. Population distributions by age, race and sex,

HIGH versus LOW states 10

Table 8. Estimated numbers of fire-fatality cases examined by age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 10

Table 9- Fire-death rates per million population by victim age, race,

and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 11

Table 10. Ratio of fire-death rates in HIGH states to those in LOW

states, by victim age, race and sex 11

Table 11. Fire-death rates per million population by major fire

cause, HIGH versus LOW states 12

Table 12. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim race or sex and by major fire causes, HIGH versus LOW states 13

Table 13. Ratios of fire-death rates for major fire causes, by race,

by sex and for HIGH versus LOW states 13

Table 14 . Fire-death rates per million population, by victim race and

sex and by major fire cause, HIGH versus LOW states 14

Table 15. Ratio of fire-death rates in HIGH states to those in LCW

states, by victim race, sex and major fire cause 14

Table 16 . Fire-death rates per million population - heating fires - by

victim age and race or sex, HIGH versus LCW states lM

Table 17. Fire-death rates per million population - smoking fires - by victim age and race or sex, HIGH versus LOW states 15

Table 18. Fire-death rates per million population - fires other than

heating and smoking - by victim age and race or sex, HIGH

versus LOW states 15

Table 19. Fire-death rates per million population - heating fires - by victim age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 15

Table 20. Fire-death rates per million population - smoking fires - by victim age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 16

Table 21. Fire-death rates per million population - fires other than

heating and smoking - by victim age, race and sex, HIGH

versus LOW states 16

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont'd.)

Page

Table 22. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim condition,

HIGH versus LOW states 17

Table 23. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim condition

and sex, HIGH versus LOW states 17

Table 24. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim condition

and age, HIGH states only 18

Table 25. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim condition

and age, LOW states only 18

Table 26. Fire-death rates per million population - asleep - by victim

age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states 19

Table 27. Fire-death rates per million population - awake and unimpaired

- by victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states 19

Table 28. Fire-death rates per million population - too young - by

victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states 19

Table 29. Fire-death rates per million population - too old - by

victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states 19

Table 30. Fire-death rates per million population - impaired by drugs

or alcohol - by victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states .... 19

Table 31- Fire-death rates per million population - bedridden, senile,

physically or mentally handicapped, other - by victim age,

and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states 19

Table 32. Percentage of fire deaths by victim condition, HIGH

states only 20

Table 33. Percentage of fire deaths by victim condition, LOW

states only 21

V

CIVILIAN RESIDENTIAL FIRE FATALITY RATES : SIX HIGH-RATE

STATES VERSUS SIX LOW-RATE STATES

John R. Hall, Jr. and Susan G. Helzer'1'

Abstract

The report presents results of an analysis of 1,600

fire fatalities occurring in six states with high fire-death

rates and six states with low fire-death rates. Reasons for

the differences in rates are explored, with special attention

to victim age, sex, race, and condition at time of ignition.

Fire cause patterns are touched on only lightly but are addressed more extensively in the companion piece to this

report, "Rural and Non-Rural Civilian Residential Fire

Fatalities in Twelve States", NBSIR 82-2519, by A. Gomberg

and L. Clark, which also examines the rural/non-rural split.

Key Words: Fire data; fire deaths; fire statistics;

residential fires.

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the past three years, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), Center for

Fire Research (CFR) has conducted a project to help determine why the southern and

southeastern states of the United States have fire-death rates higher than the other

states and why rural areas have fire-death rates higher than non-rural areas. These

two patterns had first been identified in the December 1978 report "Fire in the

United States" [l] 2

, which was published by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and

described fire experience through 1976. The pattern was reconfirmed in "Highlights

of Fire in the United States, Second Edition" [2], which described fire experience

in 1977-1978. This led NBS/CFR to design a project for the USFA in which a more

intensive examination of fire fatalities would be used to identify reasons for these

patterns. The first report from this project, "Rural and Non-Rural Civilian Residential Fire Fatalities in Twelve States" [ 3 ], concentrated on differences between

rural and non-rural populations and on the fire cause patterns which proved to be

the most likely factors in the overall differences. This second report, based on

''Presently located at the Federal Aviation Administration.

2 Numbers in brackets indicates literature references at the end of this paper.

1
analysis of the same fire fatality cases, concentrates on the role of age, race,

sex, and victim condition when the fire began, and it concentrates on the differences

between the states of the South and Southeast and the other states.

2. REVIEW OF PROJECT METHODOLOGY AND OVERALL PATTERNS

In order to set the context for these results, it is useful to recapitulate the

first report’s description of the project methodology and the overall fire-death

rates for the high death rate and low death rate states. The following description

is taken from the first report, with the emphasis shifted as appropriate to state versus state differences and away from rural versus non-rural differences.

Data on 1,797 fire fatalities from twelve states were collected. Including

1,606 civilian, residential fatalities. (Six victims could not be assigned to rural versus non-rural locations and are not included In any of the analyses in this

report.) Based on data from earlier years six of these states were grouped as high

death rate states: Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Oklahoma;

six of these states were grouped as low death rate states: Connecticut, Utah,

Wisconsin, California, Florida, and Delaware. Each state contains both rural and

non-rural populations.

In each of the participating states the data were collected through the state

fire marshal's office or a comparable office responsible for data collection. In

each of the twelve states, a full one year collection period was agreed upon . Then a report was obtained for every fatality which could be identified as being the

result of a fire which occurred in that state over the one year period. Any person

who died as the direct result of a fire, accidental or otherwise, was defined as a fire fatality in this study, except for those persons who died as a result of a fire

associated with a motor vehicle accident. This category was excluded for three

reasons: (1) these data were considerably more difficult to obtain; (2) it would be

difficult to determine if the cause of death was the accident or the fire; (3) it was not felt that the inclusion of these fatalities would provide significant insight

into the problems this study is addressing.

The fire fatalities were identified primarily through death certificates. In

addition fire incident reports, fire casualty reports, state investigation reports,

telephone inquiries, and personal contacts were used to identify additional fatalities, to identify non-fire fatalities which were incorrectly identified as fire

fatalities on the death certificates, and to obtain the necessary information on the

circumstances of each fatality. In each state the data collection effort was provided by or through the responsible state office with coordination and assistance

from CFR as required.

^Two different one-year periods were used, due to differences in reporting procedures

among the states.

2
For each state in the study the number of civilian residential fatalities

identified and the time period used are shown in table 1. In this report we will

use the following terminology:

HIGH (LOW) refers to the set of data collected from the group of high

(low) death rate states in this study.

ALL refers to the set of data collected from all of the states included in this

study

RURAL refers to the set of data collected from areas of < 2500 population.

NON-RURAL refers to the set of data collected from areas of > 2500 population.

Areas include municipalities, cities, towns and unincorporated areas.

Table 1. Civilian residential fire-death totals and firedeath rates for HIGH and LOW states

STATE

NUMBER

OF DEATHS

POPULATION

(MILLION)

FIRE DEATHS

PER MILLION REPORTING PERIOD

AL 163 3.742 43.6 July 1978 — June 1979

AR 78 2.186 35.7 July 1978 - June 1979

GA 227 5.084 44.6 Jan. 1978 - Dec

1978

MS 111 2.404 46.2 July 1978 - June 1979

OK 89 2.880 30.9 J an

1978 - Dec1978

TN 168 4.357 38.6 Jan. 1978 — Dec

1978

HIGH

TOTAL 836 20.652 40.5

CA 355 22.294 15.9 July 1978 - June 1979

CT 56 3.099 18.1 Jan. 1978 - Dec

1978

DE 27 0.583 46.3 July 1978 - June 1979

FL 192 8.594 22.3 Jan. 1978 - Dec

1978

UT 23 1.307 17.6 July 1978 - June 1979

WI 117 4.688 25.0 Jan. 1978 — Dec

1978

LOW

TOTAL 770 40.565 19.0

ALL 1606 61.217 26.2

Table 1 indicates that, state by state the death rate for the reporting period

of this study in the HIGH states is considerably higher than the death rate in the

LOW states, with the exception of Delaware. The choice of Delaware as a LOW state

for this study was based on the USFA data available at the beginning of the study

[1], and Delaware’s fatality rate had been low for several years. However, two

fires resulting in thirteen fatalities during the study year increased Delaware’s

civilian residential fire-death rate to 46.3 per million. This type of result is

3
not surprising for a state with both a small population and a generally low firedeath rate, and even with a high death rate for the period examined, Delaware's

small population assured that it had little impact on the overall patterns for the

LOW group.

Almost half of the LOW state fire fatalities occurred in California. It is

possible, therefore, for trends that appear only in California to appear to be true

for the entire group of LOW states. In order to guard against this possibility,

various frequencies and data tabulations were compared for California versus the

group of other LOW states. In most instances the California data were similar to

the data in the other states. There is considerable confidence, therefore, that the

LOW state results are not unduly influenced by California.

The overall civilian residential fire-death rate for the HIGH states is 40.5

deaths per million, more than double the overall 19.0 deaths per million in the LOW

states

All of the fire fatality data used in this study were obtained by the

participating states and recorded on a worksheet. The data included information

about the individual fatality, such as age, sex, race, and place of residence.

However, most of the data elements provide information about the fire. Most of

these are based on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 901, Uniform

Coding for Fire Protection [4]. These data elements are familiar to the fire

service community and provide a uniform way to consider fire "causes". A brief

narrative of the fire was also included. Autopsy information was also requested

when available. Finally, the sources for the data are indicated. The coding

format used in this study is given in appendix A.

A worksheet was completed for every fire fatality identified. Thus if three

persons died in a fire then three worksheets were completed. Once the fatalities

were identified, an attempt was made to identify and contact the responding fire

department. The contact was made by telephone, by mail, or by a personal visit.

The completed worksheets were sent to CFR where they were reviewed, edited and coded

for input to a computerized data base. The computer file was then edited, reviewed,

and analyzed.

The reader is cautioned that the data are not necessarily representative of all

the fifty states. Also, since the methods used to identify the fatalities varied

somewhat from state to state, the fire death rates for each state are approximate

and individual states may not be directly comparable. In addition, uncertainties

may be introduced by the method of calculating populations and by possible errors in

the interpretation and coding of the worksheet information.

4
A section of the fire fatality worksheet asked the respondent to check off the

appropriate population interval corresponding to the location (e.g., city, town,

unincorporated area) where the fatal fire took place. While this provided a good

first indication of populations, several problems were noted with these estimates.

In some cases, populations were not known. In others, different respondents checked

different population intervals for the same location. A more significant problem

was the coding of the population interval corresponding to the location of the

responding fire department rather than the location of the fatal fire. This some- times resulted in rural areas being coded with the population interval corresponding

to the population of an entire county when a county fire department responded. It

also resulted in a rural or farm location, outside the city limits of a municipality,

being coded with the population interval of that municipality.

To better define the actual populations of the fire location several steps were

taken. Coded population Intervals were compared with the populations given In the

Rand McNally Commercial Atlas [ 5 ], and corrected where found to be incorrect. In some cases where the fire location was not adequately identified by place name, use

of the zip code enabled identification of the place name.

Finally, where death certificates defined the location of the fire as outside

the city limits of small towns, or where addresses were obviously outside the limits

of a populated area (such as "off Route 1", "7 miles outside town," "off Highway

355" etc.) and where other factors such as run time, fire department identification,

or descriptions given in the narrative indicated a rural location, the population

interval was checked and corrected as necessary.

Tables 2 and 3 present, respectively, the estimated rural, non-rural and total

populations for each state, with HIGH and LOW states separated, and the fire death

rates for each state, similarly separated. Note that the LOW-state rate (and all

other rates including LOW states) differ from those shown in table 1. This is

because six LOW-state fatalities had population interval unknown and are omitted

from all calculations from this point on.

5
Table 2. Estimated populations by state

State Rural Non-Rural Total

Percent

Rural

Alabama 1,387,942 2,353,964 3 ,741,906 37

Arkansas 920,616 1,265 ,357 2 ,185 ,973 42

Georgia 1,897,405 3,186,467 5 ,083 ,872 37

Mississippi 1 , 120,901 1,283,001 2 ,403,902 47

Oklahoma 767 ,243 2,112,569 2,879,812 27

Tennessee 1 ,550 ,831 2,805,962 4,356,793 36

ALL HIGH 7,644,938 13,007,320 20,652,258 37

California 1,072,294 21 , 221,811 22,294 ,105 5 Connecticut 68,073 3,030,855 3,098,928 2 Delaware 122 ,768 460,265 583,033 21

Florida 1,441,662 7,152,175 8,593,837 17

Utah 196 ,086 1,110,857 1,306,943 15

Wisconsin 1,340,987 3,347,251 4,688,238 29

ALL LOW 4 ,241,870 36,323,214 40,565,084 10

ALL States 11,886 ,808 49,330,534 61,217,342 19

Table 3. Overall fire-death rates per million population

Population Interval HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States ALL States

Rural 55.1 42.7 50.6

Non-Rural 31.9 16.1 20.2

Total 40.5 18.8 26.1

NOTE: These rates are based on the following number of fire fatality cases:

HIGH Rural - 421, LOW Rural - l8l, HIGH Non-Rural - 4 15, LOW Non-Rural - 583

The population interval was not known for six LOW-state fatalities. Hence,

the LOW-state rate used from this point on is based on a smaller number of

fatalities and differs from the rate shown in table 1.

3. FIRE-DEATH RATE PATTERNS FOR HIGH- VERSUS

LOW-RATE STATES

This section presents the differences in fire-death rates for high-rate

versus low-rate states for victim age, victim sex, victim race, fire cause, and

victim condition before ignition. In calculating the fire-death rates, all "unknown"

entries have been allocated proportionately over all "known" categories. For

example, victims whose races were unknown have been assigned to the known race groupings in proportion to the number of victims known to be of each race. As

6
another example, fires of unknown cause have been allocated proportionately to the

known fire-cause groupings. This is necessary because "unknown" entries occur at

significantly different frequencies In HIGH versus LOW states and In rural versus non-rural areas. Failure to Include these "unknown" cases would give states and areas with large numbers of unknowns unreasonably low fire-death rates In all known

categories. This allocation procedure Is the best possible In the absence of better

Information, but it should be noted that some fire causes (e.g., arson) may be more

likely to occur in fires large enough to destroy all evidence of fire cause, hence

more likely to be coded as unknown cause. This should be kept in mind when examining these patterns.

3.1 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Age of Victim

Tables 4 and 5 show, respectively, the percentage of the population, by age

group, and the differences between fire-death rates for HIGH versus LOW rate states,

by age of victim. Age distributions for these states, used to compute the rates, were taken from 1979 Census figures [6]. There were 12 cases with unknown victim

age - two in HIGH states and 10 in LOW states - that were distributed over the known

age groups.

Table 4. Age distributions of populations in HIGH versus LOW states

Population Age HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States

Under 5 years 7.7? 7.0?

5-13 years 14.6? 13.1?

14-17 years 7.5 % 7.1?

18-24 years 12.9? 13.2?

25-44 years 27.0? 27.3?

45-64 years 19.0? 20.2?

Over 64 years 11.3? 12.1?

The particular LOW rate states selected made a difference in these distributions,

because the selection of Florida raised the proportion of the population in the most

vulnerable age group - over 64. Without Florida, the percentage of the population

over 6 4 in the LOW states would have been 10 . 4 % rather than 12.1?, or lower rather

than higher than the corresponding percentage in the HIGH rate states.

7
Table 5. Fire-death rates per million population by

victim age, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim Age HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States

Ratio of HIGH

to LOW

Under 5 years 84.1 33.4 2.5

5-13 years 17.3 10.8 1.6

14-17 years 11.0 6.3 1.7

18-24 years 20.6 9.8 2.1

25-44 years 26.2 13.7 1.9

45-64 years 50.6 22.3 2.3

Over 64 years 100.3 42.0 2.4

All ages 40.5 18.8 2.2

The differences in fire-death rates between HIGH and LOW rate states are not

dramatically different for different age groups, but the difference is slightly

larger in the age ranges that suffer that highest rates to begin with - the under 5 and over 44 age groups. A later section compares fire-death rates with respect to

victim age, sex and race combined.

3.2 Fire- Death Rate Patterns by Race and Sex of Victim

Table 6 shows the differences between fire-death rates for HIGH versus LOW rate

states, by race and sex of victim, considered individually and in combination. The

population distribution of sexes was calculated by age and race but not separately

for LOW vs HIGH rate states. It was assumed that the sex distributions of LOW and

HIGH states are the same, once you control for age and race. In other words, any

differences in the overall sex distributions of LOW and HIGH states are due to

differences in the population mix of ages and races in LOW and HIGH states.

The percentage of the population that is black was estimated at 8.7% for LOW

states and 21.9% for HIGH states [6]. Victims who were coded as some known race other than white or black were counted as white in this analysis; there were 17 such

victims - 11 males and 6 females - among the 1,600 fire death cases. Another 75

victims had either race or sex - usually race - unknown; they were allocated proportionately over the known cases. Race and sex distributions for the states, used

to compute the rates, were taken from the 1979 Statistical Abstract of the United

States [6].

8
Table 6. Fire-death rates per million population by victim

race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim Race and Sex HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States

Ratio of HIGH

to LOW

White male 38.5 19.5 2.0

White female 22.6 13.2 1.7

Black male 97.1 59.7 1.6

Black female 58.0 33.4 1.7

All whites 30.4 16.2 1.9

All blacks 76.6 45.9 1.7

All males 51.1 23.3 2.2

All females 30.5 14.6 2.1

All victims 40.5 18.8 2.2

The differences between HIGH and LOW rate states overall are more pronounced

than for any of the individual race-sex groups or for either of the race groupings

but are about the same as those for the two sex groupings. What this means is that

HIGH rate states have higher fire-death rates both because they have a larger highrisk population (i.e., more blacks proportionately than the LOW rate states do) and

because they pose a larger risk to people of any race or sex. If the mix of blacks

and whites were the same in HIGH and LOW states, the ratio between their fatality

rates would be 1.8, or about 18 percent less than the 2.2 ratio that actually

applies. The other 82 percent of the difference is due to other differences between

HIGH and LOW states (such as the difference in proportion of population in rural

areas )

.

3.3 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Age, Race and Sex of Victim

Table 7 provides estimated percentages of the population by age, race and sex for HIGH and LOW states. These percentages are based on products of three values:

(1) the percentage of each race, given LOW or HIGH, (2) the percentage of each age

group, given race and given LOW or HIGH, and (3) the percentage of each sex, given

age and race (all from [6]). These percentages are shown in truncated form; in

calculating fire-death rates they were calculated more precisely.

9
Table 7. Population distributions by age, race and sex,

HIGH versus LOW states

HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States

Victim

Age

White

Male

White

Female

Black

Male

Black

Female

White

Male

White

Female

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 2.8% 2.7% 1.1% 1.1% 3.2% 3.0% 0.4% 0.4%

5-24 13 . 0 % 12.6% 4.7% 4.7% 15.1% 14.6% 1.9% 1.9%

25-44 11 . 2 % 11.3% 2.1% 2.5% 12.5% 12.6% 1.0% 1.2%

45-64 7.4% 7.9 % 1.7% 2.0% 9.1% 9.8% 0.6% 0.7%

Over 64 3.7% 5.5% 0.9% 1.2% 4.7% 6.9% 0.2% 0.3%

All ages 38.1% 40.0% 10. 4% 11.5% 44.5% 46.8% 4.1% 4.6%

To help in assessing the significance of differences in the rates shown in the

tables to follow , table 8 indicates the estimated number of fire fatality cases used

in calculating fire-death rates, by race, sex. and agefor HIGH and LOW rate

states. Note that these figures include the allocations of unknowns described at

the beginning of section 3-2. All rates from this point on are based on at least

five fire-fatality cases, except where noted.

Table 8. Estimated number of fire-fatality cases examined

by age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age

HIGH Rate States

White White Black

Male Female Male

Black

Female

White

Male

LOW Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 41 22 35 35 30 31 21 12

5-24 50 35 20 18 62 42 13 13

25-44 63 29 42 13 75 35 29 14

45-64 87 42 52 17 96 54 21 11

Over 64 6l 58 62 54 90 89 15 11

Table 9 provides the corresponding fire-death rates by age, sex and race for

HIGH and LOW rate states. Table 10 provides the ratios of HIGH to LOW rates for

corresponding age/sex/race groups.

10
Table 9- Fire-death rates per million population by victim age,

race, and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age

HIGH

White

Male

Rate States

White Black

Female Male

Black

Female

White

Male

LOW Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 71.4 40.3 153.9 153.4 23.0 25.4 123.5 77.0

5-24 18.8 13.6 20.9 18.6 10.1 7.1 16.3 15.9

25-44 27.1 12.5 97.0 25.9 14.8 6.8 71.9 28.5

45-64 57.1 25-9 147.8 41.6 26.0 13.6 85.1 37.2

Over 64 80.0 50.8 332.4 216.4 47.2 31.9 168.3 86.4

All ages 38.5 22.6 97.1 58.0 19.5 13.2 59.7 33-4

The wide range of risk Is clear here. The highest--risk group - elderly black

men living in HIGH rate states - die in fires at nearly 50 times the rate of the

lowest-risk: group - young adult white women living in LOW rate states.

Table 10. Ratio of fireLOW states, by

death rates

victim age.

in HIGH states to race and sex those in

Victim Age White Male White Female Black Male Black. Female

Under 5 years 3.1 1.6 1.2 2.0

5-24 years 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.2

25-44 years 1.8 1.8 1.3 0.9

45-64 years 2.2 1.9 1.7 1.1

Over 64 years 1.7 1.6 2.0 2.5

All ages 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.7

Table 10 shows that black women - excluding the very young and the elderly - have essentially the same fire-death rates in HIGH and LOW states, while black males

under the age of 45 are only slightly worse off in HIGH than in LOW states. Whites

of both sexes and all ages, on the other hand, have significantly higher fire-death

rates in HIGH states than they do in LOW states. To summarize the results to date,

there are three somewhat distinct patterns of race and age underlying the higher

fire-death rates in HIGH states: (1) Whites in HIGH states, regardless of age, are more likely to die in fires than whites in LOW states. (2) Elderly people (over 64)

in HIGH states, regardless of race, are more likely to die in fires than elderly

people in LOW states. (3) Blacks, excluding elderly, are about equally likely to

11
die in fires in HIGH states or LOW states. But because blacks are more likely to

die in fires than whites in either HIGH or LOW states, and because blacks make up a much larger proportion of the population in HIGH states, the fire-death rate for

blacks is also part of the reason for the higher overall fire-death rate in HIGH

states

.

3.4 Fire-Death Rates by Cause

The previous section alluded to the importance of factors other than age, race

and sex, and the previous report showed that prominent among those factors were the

differences in fire-death rates by cause for rural versus non-rural areas. Heatingrelated fires and smoking-related fires account for the largest share of fire

fatalities and table 11 shows how fire-death rates, by cause, compare for HIGH rate

and LOW rate states.

Table 11. Fire-death rates per million population by major

fire cause, HIGH versus LOW states

Fire Cause HIGH Rate States LOW Rate States Ratio of HIGH to LOW

Heating 13.9 3.7 3.8

Smoking 11.5 6.7 1.7

Other 15.2 8.5 1.8

Total 40.5 18.8 2.2

As noted earlier, all cases in which age, race, sex or fire cause were unknown

have been proportionally allocated over the appropriate known ages, races, sexes and

causes. Column totals may not equal rates for all causes combined because of

rounding errors in making these numerous allocations. This point applies to all

analyses in this section.

Table 11 shows that the HIGH states suffer more fire deaths per million

population across the board but are particularly affected by heating-related fire

deaths. As noted in the previous report, this pattern is linked to the HIGH states'

higher ratio of rural to non-rural population, although there is also a significant

excess of heating-related fire deaths in HIGH states over LOW states within rural

and non-rural areas. Smoking, the other major cause of fire deaths, is more like

the other causes as far as the comparison of HIGH states to LOW states is concerned.

Tables 12 and 13 show how these patterns are influenced by the factors of

victim race and sex.

12
Table 12. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim race or sex and by major fire causes, HIGH versus LOW states

Fire Cause Whites

HIGH

Blacks

States

Males Females Whites

LOW

Blacks

States

Males Females

Heating 7.9 35.1 16.2 11.7 2.6 15.1 5.0 2.5

Smoking 11.2 12.2 16.5 6.7 6.3 10.4 8.6 4.9

Other 11.2 29.3 18.5 12.0 7.3 20.5 9.7 7-3

Total 30.4 76.6 51.1 30.5 16.2 45.9 23.3 14.6

Table 13. Ratios of fire-death rates for major fire causes,

by race, by sex and for HIGH versus LOW states

Fire

Cause

HIGH States Divided

by LOW States

Whites Blacks Males Females

Black Rate

by White

HIGH

States

Divided

Rate

LOW

States

Male Rate

by Female

HIGH

States

Divided

Rate

LOW

States

Heating 3.0 2.3 3.2 4.7 4.4 5.8 1.4 2.0

Smoking 1.8 1.2 1.9 1.4 1.1 1.7 2.5 1.8

Other 1.5 1.4 1.9 1.6 2.6 2.8 1.5 1.3

Total 1.9 1.7 2.2 2.1 2.5 2.8 1.7 1.6

Males have consistently higher death rates than females, particularly for smokingrelated fires. Blacks have consistently higher death rates than whites, but the

pattern is least pronounced for smoking. It is Interesting to compare this latter

finding with the Toledo neighborhood analysis by Paul Gunther [ 7 ], which showed that

people-caused fires (of which smoking is an example) showed far more variation from

poor neighborhoods to affluent neighborhoods than did equipment-related fires (such

as heating) . This study seems to suggest the opposite finding - that racial differences (which tend to be highly correlated with income differences) are more

pronounced for equipment-related fire deaths. There are a number of differences

between the two studies - one examined fires, the other fire deaths; one examined

whole neighborhoods within one city, the other racial groups within twelve states;

one examined income, the other did not; one examined all people-caused fires with

arson and children-playing dominating, the other examined only smoking. There are too many plausible theories to explain both the patterns found and the apparent

differences between the findings of the two studies to support any conclusions.

Tables 14 and 15 take the analysis another step by examining the factors of race and sex in combination.

13
Table 14. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim race and sex and by major fire cause, HIGH versus LOW states

Fire

Cause

HIGH

White

Male Female

Rate States

Black

Male Female

LOW Rate

White

Male Female

States

Black

Male Female

Heating 9.8 6.2 39.5 31.0 3-3 1.9 23-2 7.7

Smoking 15.5 7.2 20.1 5.1 8.2 4.5 12.4 8.6

Other 13.3 9.2 37.5 21.8 8.3 6.4 25.0 16.4

Total 38.5 22.6 97.1 58.0 19-5 13.2 59.7 33.4

Table 15. Ratio of fire-death rates

LOW states, by victim race

in HIGH states

, sex and major

to those in

fire cause

Fire Cause White Male White Female Black Male Black Female

Heating 3.0 3-3 1.7 4.0

Smoking 1.9 1.6 1.6 0.6

Other 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.3

Total 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.7

For the most part, there are no further surprises here. The patterns are essentially

consistent with what might be expected, given the patterns shown in tables 12 and

13. Tables 16-21, then, introduce victim age as a factor. Care should be taken in

interpreting these tables, however, in view of the small numbers of fires represented by each rate. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that while heatingfire death rates and other-known-cause fire-death rates follow the overall pattern

of peaks for the very young and the very old, smoking fire death rates tend to grow

steadily with age. This suggests that most of the people dying in smoking-related

fires are the smokers whose cigarettes ignited the fires, and so the young-child

peak is eliminated by the fact that young children do not smoke.

Table 16. Fire-death rates per million population - heating fires - by victim age and race or sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age Whites

HIGH Rate

Blacks

States

Males Females Whites

LOW Rate

Blacks

States

Males Females

Under 5 22.0 67-9 36.8 33.4 8.7 42.3 15.1 10.3

5-24 4.3 4.0 5.6 2.8 1.8 2.6* 2.4 1.4

25-44 3.9 19.5 9.4 5.2 2.1 9.3 5.4 1.4

45-64 5.8 m

on 18.1 5.5 1.5 21.4 5.3 0.6*

Over 64 23.1 163.4 55.1 45.3 4.1 63.5 8.4 5-9

All ages 7.9 35.1 16.2 11.7 2.6 15.1 5.0 2.5

*Rate based on fewer than five fire fatality cases.

14
Table 17. Fire-death rates per million population - smoking fires - by victim age and race or sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age Whites

HIGH Rate

Blacks

States

Males Females Whites

LOW Rate

Blacks

States

Males Females

Under 5 1.2* 2.7* 1.5* 1.8* 2.0 27.9 5.3 4.9

5-24 5.9 0.0* 5.8 2.8 2.5 5.5 3-3 2.4

25-44 9.3 14.3 16.9 3.6 4.1 9.3 6.7 2.6

45-64 24.0 31.6 36.3 15.6 11.7 8.0* 13.6 9.5

Over 64 15.6 38.7 30.1 12.9 14.5 21.6*

' 24.6 8.2

All ages 11.2 12.2 16.5 6.7 6.3 10.3 8.6 4.9

Table 18. Fire-death rates per million population - fires other than

heating and smoking - by victim age and race or sex, HIGH

versus LOW states

Victim

Age Whites

HIGH Rate States

Blacks Males Females Whites

LOW Rate States

Blacks Males Females

Under 5 32.8 82.7 56.2 37.5 12.9 30.2 16.9 13.1

5-24 6.1 15.7 8.0 9.3 4.2 8.8 5.5 3.9

25-44 6.6 20.4 11.8 6.1 4.7 27.7 8.6 4.4

45-64 11.2 23.8 20.1 21.1 6.6 28.0 10.7 5.6

Over 64 24.1 62.8 43.3 73.6 19.4 38.4 20.5 20.2

All ages 11.2 29.3 18.5 12.0 7-3 20.5 9.7 7.3

*Rate based on fewer than five fire fatality cases

.

Table 19. Fire-death rates per million population - heating fires

by victim age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age

White

Male

HIGH Rate States

White Black

Female Male

Black

Female

White

Male

LOW Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 31.1 12.5 51.1 85.1 9.2 8.2 58.5 25 . 6 ** 5-24 4.8 3.8 8.0 0.0** 2.3 1.4 4.0** 1.3**

25-44 4.3 3.5 36.9 12.8 3.5 0.8** 11.8** 7.2**

45-64 10.9 1.0** 49.0 23.6 2.4 0.7** 46.3 0.0**

Over 64 25.5 21.5 180.6 151.1 3.9 4.2 95.7 40.6

All ages 9.8 6.2 39.5 31.0 3.3 1.9 23.2 7.7

**Rate estimated from fewer than five fire fatalities in the study.

15
Table 20. Fire-death rates per million population - smoking fires - by victim age, race and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Age

White

Male

HIGH Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

White

Male

LOW Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 0.0** 2.5** 5.2** 0.0** 1.5** 2.5** 33.0 22.7**

5-24 7.9 3.8 0.0** 0.0** 3.1 1.9 5.0** 6.0**

25-44 15.7 2.9 23.5 6.5** 6.0 2.3 15.6 6.6**

45-64 30.4 18.0 61.5 5.8** 14.1 9.4 5.9** 9.8**

Over 64 23.7 10.1 57.6 25.2 24.0 8.1 37.4** 10.3**

All ages 15.5 7.2 20.1 5.1 8.2 4.5 12.4 8.6

Table 21. Fire-death rates per

heating and smoking

versus LOW states

million population - fires other than

- by victim age, race and sex, HIGH

Victim

Age

White

Male

HIGH Rate States

White Black

Female Male

Black

Female

White

Male

LOW Rate

White

Female

States

Black

Male

Black

Female

Under 5 39.9 25.3 97.4 67.6 14.0 11.8 38.1 22.1**

5-24 6.3 5.9 12.8 18.5 5.0 3.3 9.1 8.4

25-44 7.1 6.0 36.9 6.5** 5.8 3.5 43.6 14.4

45-64 16.0 6.8 37.7 11.9** 9.4 4.0 29.4 26.7

Over 64 31.1 19.3 98.1 40.1 19.7 19.3 37.4** 39.2**

All ages 13.3 9.2 37.5 21.8 8.3 6.4 25.0 16.4

**Rate estimated from fewer than five fire fatalities in the study.

3.5 Fire-Death Rate Patterns by Condition Before Ignition

This section examines fire-death patterns by victim condition before ignition,

victim age, and victim sex, for HIGH versus LOW rate states. Victim race is omitted

because section 3*4 showed that race is not a major factor in fire-death rate differences for smoking-related fires, which tend to be highly correlated with victim

intoxication, one of the key categories of victim condition. Therefore, this section

concentrates on sex, which is a strong factor in smoking fire deaths, and age, which

is directly related to several victim conditions, such as being a child too young to

understand fire or the need to escape or being unable to escape because of general

infirmities associated with advanced age (abbreviated below as "too old").

Table 22 gives fire-death rates by victim condition for HIGH vs LOW states.

Table 23 gives those rates further subdivided by victim sex. Tables 2 4 and 25 give

the rates from table 21 subdivided by victim age. Tables 26-31 give the rates by

16
victim condition, sex and age. Note that the condition of bedridden, senile,

physically or mentally handicapped, or other is strongly dominated by victims age 65 or over. The condition of awake and unimpaired also shows a strong age bias toward

elderly victims. Most adult victims below the age of 65 are either asleep or impaired. Tables 32-33 show what percentage of the victims, by age and sex, were in

each of the conditions. These tables show that drug and alcohol impairment is much

more a problem with men than women.

Table 22. Fire-death rates per million population, by

victim condition, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim Condition HIGH-Rate States LOW-Rate States

Asleep 13.2 7.7

Awake and unimpaired 2.5 2.0

Too young 6.8 2.6

Too old 4.2 1.5

Impaired by drugs or alcohol 9.7 3.7

Bedridden, senile, physically or mentally handicapped, other 4.2 ^r 1l— All conditions 40.5 18.8

Table 23. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim

condition and sex, HIGH versus LOW states

Victim

Condition

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Asleep 15.2 11.3 9.7 5.9

Awake and unimpaired 2.2 2.8 2.7 1.3

Too young 7.9 5.7 3.2 2.0

Too old 3.9 4.4 1.0 2.0

Impaired by drugs or alcohol 16.3 3.4 5.2 2.2

Bedridden, senile, physically or mentally handicapped, other 5.6 2.8 1.5 1.3

All conditions 51.1 0 m

on 23.3 14 .

6

17
Table 24. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim

condition and age, HIGH states only

Victim

Condition

Under

5 5-24

Victim Age

25-44 45-64

Over

64

Asleep 3.2 11.4 10.6 17.2 25.2

Awake and unimpaired 0.7* 0.7 2.0 4.0 9.0

Too young 79.4 1.7 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

Too old 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.3* 36.7

Impaired by drugs or alcohol 0.0* 2.8 11.6 23.7 10.7

Bedridden, senile, physically or mentally handicapped, other 0.0* 0.5* 2.0 5.6 22.4

Table 25. Fire-death rates per million population, by victim

condition and age, LOW states only

Victim

Condition

Under

5 5-24

Victim Age

25-44 45-64

Over

64

Asleep 0.4* 5.5 6.5 11.4 15.5

Awake and unimpaired 0.0* 1.7 1.9 2.2 3.4

Too young 31.8 1.0 0 0 * 0.0* 0.0*

Too old 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.1* 12.0

Impaired by drugs or alcohol 0.0* 0.7 4.7 6.6 7.0

Bedridden, senile, physically or mentally handicapped, other 0 0

* 0.4 0.6 2.1 5.8

*Based on fewer than five fire fatality cases.

18
Table 26. Fire-death rates per million

population - asleep - by victim

age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states

Victim

Age

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Under 5 3.8* 2.7* 0.0* 0.7*

5-24 10.7 12.1 6.0 5.1

25-44 15.1 6.3 9.7 3.5

45-64 23.6 11.2 13.3 9.7

Over 64 26.3 24.2 22.3 9.1

All ages 15.2 11.3 9.7 5.9

Table 27. Fire-death rates per million

population - awake and unimpaired - by victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW

states

Victim

Age

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Under 5 0.0* 1.3* 0.0* 0.0*

5-24 1.0* 0.4* 2.1 1.4

25-44 0.0* 3.8 2.7 1.2

45-64 4.7 3.3 3.7 0.7*

Over 64 10.6 7.5 4.4 2.4

All ages 2.2 2.8 2.7 1.3

Table 28. Fire-death rates per million

population - too young - by victim

age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states

Table 29. Fire-death rates per million

population - too old - by victim

age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states

Victim

Age

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Under 5 91.2 68.2 36.6 27.3

5-24 1.3* 2.0 1.5 0.6*

25-44 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

45-64 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

Over 64 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

All ages 7.9 5.7 3.2 2.0

Victim

Age

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Under 5 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

5-24 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

25-44 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

45-64 0.7* 0.0* 0.3* 0.0*

Over 64 39.6 33.9 9.9 14.0

All ages 3.9 4.4 1.0 2.0

Table 30. Fire-death rates per million

population - impaired by drugs or alcohol - by victim age and sex, HIGH vs. LOW states

Victim

Age

HIGH

Male

States

Female

LOW

Male

States

Female

Under 5 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

5-24 5.7 0.0* 1.3 0.2*

25-44 19.8 3.8 6.7 2.9

45-64 36.4 11.8 9.3 4.1

Over 64 21.2 0.8* 10.5 3.6

All ages 16.3 3.4 5.2 2.2

*Rate based on fewer than five fire fatality

Table 31. Fire-death rates per million

population - bedridden, senile,

physically or mentally handicapped,

other - by victim age and sex, HIGH

vs. LOW states

Victim HIGH States LOW States

Age Male Female Male Female

Under 5 0.0* 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*

5-24 0.7* 0.4* 0.4* 0.4*

25-44 3.1 1.0* 0.3* 0.9

45-64 8.8 2.6 3.1 1.1*

Over 64 30.4 14.9 6.4 5.2

All ages 5.6 2.8 1.5 1.3

19
Table 32. Percentage of fire deaths by victim condition,

HIGH states only

Victim Age

and Sex Asleep

Awake and

Unimpaired

Too

Young

Too

Old

Impaired by

Drugs or Alcohol

Bedridden, Senile,

Physically or Mentally

Handicapped, Other

Male

Under 5 4% 0# 96# 0# 0# 0#

5-24 55 % 5 % 7 % 0# 29# 4#

25-44 40# 0# 0# 0# 52# 8#

45-64 32# 6# 0# 1# 495S 12#

Over 64 20# 8# 0# 315s 17# 24#

Female

Under 5 4# 2# 94# 0# 0# 0#

5-24 81 # 3 % 13# 0# 0# 3 % 25-44 42# 26# 0# 0# 25 % 7 % 45-64 39 % 11# 0# 0# 41# 9 % Over 64 30# 9# 0# 42# 1# 18 #

All

Under 5 4# 1# 95 % 0# 0# 0#

5-24 67 % 4# 10# 0# 16 # 3 % 25-44 40# 8# 0# 0# 44# 8#

45-64 34# 8# 0# 1# 47$ 11#

Over 64 24# 9 % 0# 35 % 10# 22#

All males 30# 4# 15 % 8# 32# 11#

All females 37 % 9 % 19 % 14# 11# 9#

All victims 33 % 6# 17 % 10# 24# 10#

20
Table 33. Percentage of fire deaths by victim condition,

LOW states only

Victim Age

and Sex Asleep

Awake and

Unimpaired

Too

Young

Too

Old

Impaired by

Drugs or Alcohol

Bedridden, Senile,

Physically or Mentally

Handicapped, Other

Male

Under 5 0$ 0$ 100$ 0$ 0$ 0$

5-24 53$ 19$ 13$ 0$ 12$ 3$

25-44 50 % 14% 0$ 0$ 35$ 1$

45-64 45% 12$ 0$ 1$ 31$ 10$

Over 64 42% 8$ 0$ 18$ 20$ 12$

Female

Under 5 2 % 0$ 98$ 0$ 0$ 0$

5-24 66 % 18 $ 8$ 0$ 3$ 5$

25-44 41* 14$ 0$ 0$ 34$ 11$

45-64 62 % 4$ 0$ 0$ 26 $ 7$

Over 64 27 % 7$ 0$ 41$ 10$ 15$

All

Under 5 1 % 0 % 99$ 0$ 0$ 0$

5-24 59 % 18 $ 11$ 0$ 8$ 4$

25-44 47$ 14% 0$ 0$ 34$ 4$

45-64 51$ 10$ 0$ 0$ 29$ 9$

Over 64 35$ 8$ 0$ 27$ 16 $ 13$

All males 42$ 12$ 14$ 4$ 22$ 6$

All females 40$ 9$ 14$ 14$ 15$ 9$

All victims 4l% 11$ 14$ 8$ 19$ 7$

4. CONCLUSIONS

This report seeks to build on the results of the 1982 report by Gomberg and

Clark [3], which identified differences in the frequencies of several causal categories of fires - primarily related to heating equipment - as the principal explanation of differences in overall fire death rates between rural and non-rural areas. Because rural areas account for a much larger proportion of total population in

those states having the highest fire death rates, the Gomberg and Clark report also

implicitly showed the role of heating-related fires in explaining why the high-rate

states had higher fire death rates. In this report, analyses were performed to

determine what role race, sex and age play in explaining the differences between

high-rate and low-rate states. Because the results produced few conclusions going

beyond what was already known, the data are of interest primarily for archival

purposes and as bases for future analysis.

21
It was recognized at the outset that males have much higher fire death rates

than females, and it has been widely conjectured that a major reason for the dif- xerence is a greater propensity for males to combine careless smoking and excessive

drinking. Tables 32 and 33 support the contention that a higher percentage of male

fire deaths involve drug or alcohol impairment - particularly in high-rate states.

Table 23 shows that without fire deaths involving such impairment, the gap between

male and female fire death rates would shrink by nearly one-third in low-rate states

and nearly two-thirds in high-rate states. However, tables 22 and 23 shows that

drug/alcohol impairment does not stand out uniquely as a factor in the differences

between high—rate and low—rate states, either with both sexes considered together or with the two sexes considered separately. Similarly table 11 shows that smokingrelated fires contribute no more than other non-heating causes to the differences

between high-rate and low-rate states.

The results on race also generally follow already-established patterns.

Blacks constitute two-and-a-half times as large a proportion of the total population

in high-rate states as in low-rate states. Therefore, because fire-death-rates are much higher for blacks than for whites, their greater numbers help to explain the

higher death rates in high-rate states. (A similar analysis would probably show a similar patttern for poverty versus non-poverty populations. High-rate states have

higher proportions of their populations in poverty, and that has been shown to

correlate with higher fire rates.) But for each racial group considered separately,

the differences between death rates in high-rate and low-rate states are almost the

same, as table 6 shows. And although table 10 shows the high-low differences to be more age-dependent for blacks than for whites, it is not clear what significance

this pattern has for fire prevention planners.

Finally, the results on age also showed little beyond the familiar pattern that

young children and the elderly have much higher fire death rates than the rest of

the population. Elderly blacks were the principal age-defined group for which death

rates in high-rate states were much higher (more than double) the corresponding

rates in low-rate states (see table 10).

5 . REFERENCES

[1] Fire in the United States, 1978 Edition, National Fire Prevention and Control

Administration, Department of Commerce (U.S.), Washington, D.C., December 1978.

[2] Highlights of Fire in the United States, Second Edition, Federal Emergency

Management Agency, U.S. Fire Administration, Washington, D.C., April 1981.

[3] A. Gomberg and L. P. Clark, Rural and Non-Rural Civilian Residential Fire

Fatalities in Twelve States, NBSIR 82-2519, National Bureau of Standards

(U.S.), Washington, D.C., June 1982.

22
[4] Uniform Coding for Fire Protection 1976, NFPA No. 901-1976, National Fire

Protection Association, Boston, Massachusetts, 1976.

[5] The 1980 Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide, 110th Edition, Rand McNally and

Company, 1980.

[6] Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1979 s Bureau of the Census (U.S.),

Washington, D.C., 1979.

[7] Socioeconomic Characteristics and Fire Patterns: A Case Study of Toledo, Fire

in the United States, Second Edition, Chapter 9 , Federal Emergency Management

Agency (U.S.), Washington, D.C., July 1982.

23
APPENDIX A CODING STRUCTURES

CODING FOR FIRE FATALITY WORKSHEETS

ID NUMBER (5 digits)

- first two digits used for NCHS state code (attached)

MULTIPLE FATALITY FIRE NUMBER (2 digits)

- number each multiple fatality fire under ID number

00 for single fatality fire

BLOCK A DATE OF DEATH (6 digits

)

1 Month (2 digits)

Day (2 digits)

Year (2 digits)

AGE (2 digits) 1 Actual age except

01

for ages 00 and 01

99 for 99 and above

00 for unknown

SEX (1 digit) 1

1 male

2 female

RACE (1 digit) 1

1 white

2 black

3 American Indian

4 Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Philipino, Korean, Asian Indian,

Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders)

5 Spanish (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban)

9 Race, Not Classified Above

BLOCK B

PLACE OF DEATH (10 digits) 1

City/Town (5 digit census code)

County (3 digit census code)

State (2 digit NCHS code attached)

PLACE OF RESIDENCE (10 digits) 1 Same as "PLACE OF DEATH"

BLOCK C DATE OF FIRE (6 digits) 1 Same as "DATE OF DEATH"

TIME OF FIRE (MILITARY) (4 digits) 1

0000 = Unknown

1 If code is unknown or not reported fill data element with appropriate number

of zeros.

24
DAY (1 digit) 1

1 Sunday

2 Monday

3 Tuesday

H Wednesday

5 Thursday

6 Friday

7 Saturday

0 Unknown

AFFILIATION OF VICTIM (1 digit) 1 1 Fire Service

2 Other Emergency Personnel

3 Civilian

BLOCK D

CAUSE OF DEATH (1 digit)

1 Smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide, etc.

2 Burns

3 Smoke Inhalation and burns

4 Cremation

9 Other

0

Not reported

E-CODE (5 digits) 1 NCHS External cause of death code

1978 Code has form OOXXX or OXXXX

1979 Code has form XXX.

MULTIPLE FATALITY FIRE (2 digits) 1 Number of fatalities (2 digits)

00 Not Multiple Fatality Fire

BLOCK E . ADDRESS (13 digits) 1 Street Address - Omit

City/Town (5 digit census code)

Zip Code (5 digits)

County (3 digit census code)

BLOCK F

WAS FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLED? IF YES, TYPE OF FIRE DEPARTMENT (1 digit)

0 Not called

1 Yes, all paid

2 Yes, part paid

3 Yes, all volunteer

8 Response unknown

9 Yes, type unknown

RUN TIME (In minutes - 2 digits) 1 00 Unknown

25
BLOCK G

POPULATION OF PLACE (2 digits)

01 Under 2,500

02 2 , 500 - 5,000

03 5,000-10,000

04 10 , 000 - 25,000

05 25,000-50,000

06 50,000-100,000

07 100 , 000- 250,000

08 250 , 000 - 500,000

09 500,000-1,000,000

10 Over 1,000,000

00 Not reported

BLOCK H

PROPERTY TYPE (2 digits)

41 One/two family

42 Apartment

47 Mobile home

44 Hotel

04 Other residential

01 Public assembly

02 Educational

03 Institutional

05 Store, office

06 Industry, utility, defense

08 Storage

07 Manufacturing

00 Unknown

"Other" is coded with appropriate 2 digit NFIRS code 2 except

09 Vehicle fire

45 Travel trailer

BLOCK I ORIGIN OF FIRE (2 digits)

14 Living room/family room

21 Bedroom

23 Dining room

24 Kitchen

25 Bathroom

42 Closet

47 Garage/carport

62 Heating equipment room/water heater area

75 Concealed wall space

00 Undetermined/not reported ? "Not Classified Above" is coded with appropriate NFIRS ^ code

BLOCK J

EQUIPMENT INVOLVED (2 digits)

11

Central heating unit

13 Stationary local heating unit

14 Fireplace

15 Portable local heating unit

01 Chimney

02 Cooking equipment

03 Fixed wiring

04 Switch, receptacle, outlet

05 Cord, plug

06 Television, radio, phonograph

08 No equipment involved

00 Undetermined/not reported P "Not Classified Above" coded with appropriate NFIRS code^

2Use 99 if no NFIRS code applies.

26
BLOCK K

FORM OF HEAT IGNITION (2 digits)

01 Gas fueled equipment

02 Liquid fueled equipment

03 Solid fueled equipment

04 Short circuit

31 Cigarette

44 Candle

45 Match

46 Lighter

05 Properly operating electrical equipment

06 Improperly operating electrical equipment

00

Undetermined/not reported ? "Not Classified Above" coded with appropriate NFIRS code^

BLOCK L

TYPE OF MATERIAL IGNITED (2 digits)

01 Natural gas

02 LP gas

03 Gasoline

04 Cooking oil, grease

05 Other food

06 Sawn wood, framing

07 Hardwood, plywood, fiberboard

08 Paper

09 Fabric

00

Undetermined/not reported 2 "Not Classified Above" coded with appropriate NFIRS code

BLOCK M

FORM OF MATERIAL IGNITED (2 digits)

01 Interior wall covering, surface

02 Thermal, acoustical insulation

21 Upholstered furniture

03 Mattress/bedding

34 Wearing apparel not on a person

35 Wearing apparel on a person

44 Magazine, newspaper

04 Rubbish, trash waste

05 Cooking materials

00 Undetermined/not reported 2 "Not Classified Above" coded with appropriate NFIRS code

BLOCK N

IGNITION FACTOR (2 digits)

01 Incendiary/suspicious

31 Abandoned, discarded material (cigarette)

33 Falling asleep

36 Children playing

4l Fuel spilled, released accidentally

46 Combustible too close to heat

51 Part failure, leak, break

54 Short circuit, ground fault

56 Lack of mainenance, worn out

63 Installed too close to combustibles

73 Unattended

00 Undetermined/not reported

2 "Not Classified Above" coded with appropriate NFIRS code except^

08 Murder

09 Suicide

27
BLOCK 0

LOCATION AT TIME OF IGNITION (1 digit)

1 Intimately involved with ignition

2 In the room or space of fire origin

4 In same building as origin of fire

5 Outside of building of fire origin

0 Undetermined/not reported

9 Not classified above

BLOCK P CONDITION BEFORE INJURY (1 digit)

1 Asleep

2 Bedridden or physically handicapped

3 Impaired by drugs, alcohol

4 Under restraint

5 Too young to act

6 Too old to act

7 Mentally handicapped, senile

8 Awake, Unimpaired

9 Not classified above

0

Undetermined/not reported

BLOCK Q

WAS THERE A SMOKE DETECTOR PRESENT? IF SO, DID IT OPERATE? (1 digit)

0 Undetermined/not reported

1 Present and operated

2 Present and did not operate

7 Present and operation not reported

8 Not present

BLOCK R BLOCK R WILL BE CODED WITH

1-14 letters (left justified blank filled) Indicating block of

this form for which additional information is provided in

NARRATIVE

BLOCK S

WAS AN AUTOPSY PERFORMED? (1 digit)

1 Yes

0 No

WAS A BLOOD SAMPLE TAKEN? (1 digit)

1 Yes

0 No

DRUGS PRESENT? (1 digit)

1 Yes

0 No

9

Not reported

BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT (4 digits)

Percentage of Form X.XX

9999 - Unknown

CARBOXY HEMOGLOBIN (4 digits)

Percentage of Form XX.

9999 - Unknown

28
BLOCK T

DATA SOURCES (2 digits)

For convenience, we use the abbreviation

DC for Death Certificate

FIR for Fire Incident Report

TPC for Telephone/Personal Contact

NR for Newspaper Report

0 for Other

01 DC only 31 DC + 0

02 FIR only 32 FIR + 0

03 TPC only 33 TPC + 0

04 NR only 34 NR + 0 05 0 only

11 DC + FIR 4l DC + FIR + 0

12 DC + TPC 42 DC + TPC + 0

13 DC + NR 43 DC + NR + 0

14 FIR + TPC 44 FIR + TPC + 0

15 FIR + NR 45 FIR + NR + 0 16 TPC + NR 46 TPC + NR + 0

21 DC + FIR + TPC 51 DC + FIR + TPC + 0

22 DC + FIR + NR 52 DC + FIR + NR + 0

23 DC + TPC + NR 53 DC + TPC + NR + 0

24 FIR + TPC + NR 54 FIR + TPC + NR + 0

29 DC + FIR + TPC + NR 59 DC + FIR + TPC + NR +

00 NOT REPORTED

29
DEFINITION OF FIRE "CAUSES

Cause EQP

NFPA 901 Codes

FHI IGF

Incendiary

,

Suspicious . 11, 12,

21, 22

Children

Playing - - 36, 48

Smoking - 30 - 39 - Heating 10 - 19 - - Cooking 20 - 29 - - Electrical 40 - 49 _ _

.

Distribution - 28 , 54 -

Appliances 30 - 39

50 - 54

56 - 59 . .

Open 41 - 43 32, 35

Flame 87 44 - 47

Unknown

Other

53, 55

00, 97, 99

Non-Numeric

ALL OTHER

EQP : Equipment Involved in Ignition

FHI: Form of Heat of Ignition

IGF: Ignition Factor
Dj 14A (REV. 2-80

U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. l. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET (See instructions)

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

PUBLICATION OR

REPORT NO.

2. Performing Organ. Report No. 3. Publication Date

NBSIR 83-2754 August 1983

CIVILIAN RESIDENTIAL FIRE FATALITY RATES: SIX HIGH-RATE

STATES VERSUS SIX LOW-RATE STATES

5. AUTHOR(S)

John R. Hall, Jr. and Susan G. Helzer

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION (If joint or other than NBS. see in struction s) national bureau of standards

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

7. Contract/Grant No.

8. Type of Report & Period Covered

9.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NAME AND COMPLETE ADDRESS (Street. City. State. ZIP)

Federal Emergency Management Agency

U.S. Fire Administration

Washington, D.C. 20472

10.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

[32! Document describes a computer program; SF-185, FIPS Software Summary, is attached.

11.

ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bi bl iography or literature survey, mention it here)

The report presents results of an analysis of 1,600 fire fatalities occurring

in six states with high fire-death rates and six states with low fire-death rates.

Reasons for the differences in rates are explored, with special attention to victim

age, sex, race, and condition at time of ignition. Fire cause patterns are touched on only lightly but are addressed more extensively in the companion piece to this report,

"Rural and Non-Rural Civilian Residential Fire Fatalities in Twelve States", NBSIR

82-2519, by A. Gomberg and L. Clark, which also examines the rural /non-rural split.

12. KEY WORDS (Six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only proper names; and separate key

Fire data; fire deaths; fire statistics; residential fires.

words by semicolons)

13. AVAILABILITY 14. NO. OF

PRINTED PAGES

£x] Uni i mi ted 35

| | For Official Distribution. Do Not Release to NTIS

i' Order From Superintendent of Documents, U.S, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 15. Price

Order From National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA. 22161 $8.50

U S COMM- D C 6043-P80
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