Topical Fire reporT SerieS

U.S. Department of Homeland Security • U.S. Fire Administration 

National Fire Data Center • Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727 

www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/

Volume 12, Issue 5 / June 2011

Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities

These topical reports are designed to 

explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as 

depicted through data collected in the U.S. 

Fire Administration’s (USFA’s) National Fire 

Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Each 

topical report briefly addresses the nature 

of the specific fire or fire-related topic, 

highlights important findings from the 

data, and may suggest other resources to 

consider for further information.

Findings

■ An estimated 1,700 residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities 

are reported to U.S. fire departments each year and cause an estimated 85 deaths, 250 

injuries, and $61 million in total loss.

■ Intentional is the leading cause of residential building fires (40 percent) where a mental 

disability is reported as a human factor contributing to ignition. 

■ Sixty-five percent of residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities 

are limited to the object or room of origin.

■ Kitchens and bedrooms are the primary areas of origin for residential building fires involving 

people with mental disabilities (26 percent each).

■ Residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities are more prevalent in 

January (9 percent) and December (9 percent) and peak between 4 and 6 p.m. 

From 2007 to 2009, an estimated 1,700 residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities 

were reported by U.S. fire departments annually. These fires 

caused an estimated 85 deaths, 250 injuries, and $61 million dollars in property damage.1, 2, 3 A companion topical 

report on residential building fires involving individuals 

with physical disabilities is also available, Residential Building 

Fires Involving Individuals with Physical Disabilities, Vol. 12, Issue 6.4

When a fire breaks out, escaping a building safely can be 

challenging. It is not unusual to become disoriented and panicked because of dense smoke in the home or the presence of 

flames. People with disabilities are confronted with additional challenges when trying to evacuate a building. If an 

individual has a mental disability it can be very difficult to 

recognize the dangers as well as to navigate an escape route. 

To help individuals with disabilities, the Americans with 

Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that certain multistory buildings must contain an area of rescue assistance (ARA). These 

areas are where people with disabilities can go to await 

assistance or further instruction during an emergency situation.5

 The guidelines in the ADA dictate in which buildings 

ARAs are required. In these areas, individuals with disabilities must be able to communicate with people outside 

the building both audibly and visually.6

 If the individual, 

however, resides in a building that does not contain ARAs, 

evacuation is left to the individual, the people with whom 

they live, or neighbors until the fire department can arrive. 

This topical report addresses the characteristics of residential building fires where a possible mental disability, 

as reported to the National Fire Incident Reporting System 

(NFIRS) from 2007 to 2009, contributed to the ignition of 

the fire. It is important to note that this analysis does not 

address those fire casualties where a possible mental disability contributed to the injury.

The NFIRS data are used for the analyses presented throughout the report. For the purpose of the report, the terms 

“residential building fires involving individuals with mental 

disabilities” is synonymous with “fires involving individuals 

with mental disabilities.” “Fires involving individuals with 

mental disabilities” is used throughout the body of this 

report; the findings, tables, charts, headings, and footnotes 

reflect the full category, “residential building fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities.”

Type of Fire

Building fires are divided into two classes of severity in 

NFIRS: “confined fires,” which are those fires confined to 

certain types of equipment or objects, and “nonconfined 

fires,” which are not. Confined building fires are small fire 

incidents that are limited in extent, staying within pots 

or fireplaces or certain other noncombustible containers.7

Confined fires rarely result in serious injury or large content 

losses, and are expected to have no significant accompanying property losses due to flame damage.8

Nonconfined fires account for 89 percent of fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities (Table 1). Cooking and 

trash fires account for 98 percent of the confined fires.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 2

Table 1. Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities 

by Type of Incident (2007–2009) 

Incident Type Percent of Fires

Nonconfined fires 89.4

Building Fires 84.2

Fire in mobile home used as a fixed residence 3.9

Fires in structures other than a building 0.8

Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle 0.3

Fire in mobile property used as a fixed structure, other 0.2

Confined fires 10.6

Cooking fire, confined to container 7.1

Trash or rubbish fire, contained 3.2

Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 0.2

Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined 0.1

Total 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Prior to 2008, fires in structures other than a building are included, as previous analyses have shown that fires coded as structures other than a building were often building fires and the codes used 

interchangeably.

NFIRS allows abbreviated reporting for confined fires and 

many reporting details of these fires are not required nor 

reported. In the case of confined fires involving individuals with mental disabilities, however, many of the details 

of these fires are included. The subsequent analysis in this 

report, therefore, includes all fires involving individuals 

with mental disabilities and does not distinguish between 

confined and nonconfined fires.

Type of Property

Residential buildings are divided into three major property 

types: one- and two-family buildings, multifamily buildings, and other. One- and two-family residential buildings 

include detached single-family residences, manufactured homes, mobile homes not in transit, and duplexes. 

Multifamily residential buildings include apartments, condos, and town houses. Other residential buildings include 

all other types of residential buildings, such as hotels or 

motels, long-term care facilities, dormitories, and sorority 

or fraternity housing. 

One- and two-family residential buildings account for the 

largest percentage of residential fires involving individuals 

with mental disabilities (62 percent) as reported by NFIRS 

(Table 2). Multifamily buildings were involved in 30 percent of fires involving people with mental disabilities. 

Table 2. Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities 

by Property Type (2007–2009)

Property Type Percent of Fires

One- and Two-Family 62.0

Multifamily 30.0

Other 8.0

Total 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Loss Measures

Table 3 presents losses, averaged over this 3-year period, of 

reported residential fires where “possibly mentally disabled” was identified as a human factor contributing to the 

ignition of the fire.9

 While fires that involve individuals 

with mental disabilities are similar in the dollar loss per fire 

to fires that involve individuals with physical disabilities, 

they are less injurious. (See Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Physical Disabilities, Vol. 12, Issue 6.)
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 3

Table 3. Loss Measures for Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals 

with Mental Disabilities (3-year average, 2007–2009)

Measure Loss for Fires

Average Loss:

Fatalities/1,000 fires 39.3

Injuries/1,000 fires 122.0

Dollar loss/fire $29,560

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: 1) Average loss for fatalities and injuries is computed per 1,000 fires; average dollar loss is computed per fire and is rounded to the nearest $10.

 2) Dollar loss is converted to $2009.

When Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities Occur

As shown in Figure 1, fires involving individuals with mental disabilities occur steadily throughout the day, peaking 

in the late afternoon to early evening hours between 4 and 

6 p.m. This peak period accounts for 11 percent of these 

fires.10 Post peak, fire incidence for fires involving people 

with mental disabilities gradually declines, reaching the 

lowest incidence between 4 and 7 a.m.

Figure 1. Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities 

by Time of Alarm (2007–2009)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

11PM-Mid

10PM-11PM

9PM-10PM

1PM-2PM

2PM-3PM

3PM-4PM

4PM-5PM

5PM-6PM

6PM-7PM

7PM-8PM

8PM-9PM

12PM-1PM

10AM-11AM

11AM-12PM

9AM-10AM

Mid-1AM

1AM-2AM

2AM-3AM

3AM-4AM

4AM-5AM

5AM-6AM

6AM-7AM

7AM-8AM

8AM-9AM

Time of Alarm

Percent of Residential Building Fires 

Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities

4.3

3.4

3.1 3.3

2.1

2.6

2.2

3.2 3.3

3.9

4.2

4.5

5.2 5.3 5.0

4.3

3.9

5.0

4.7 4.5

5.5

5.8

5.3 5.4

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Figure 2 illustrates the residential building fire profile, by 

month, for fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. Fires involving people with mental disabilities peak in 

the winter months of December (9 percent) and January 

(9 percent). The lowest numbers of fire incidents occur in 

October.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 4

Figure 2. Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities by Month 

(2007–2009)

Month of Year 

Percent of Residential Building 

Fires Involving Individuals with 

Mental Disabilities

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

November

December

October

September

August

July

April

May

June

March

February

January

9.2

8.3

8.9 8.5 8.5

7.9 8.1 7.8 7.9 7.7 7.9

9.4

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Causes of Residential Building Fires 

Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities

Forty percent of all fires involving individuals with mental 

disabilities are intentionally set as shown in Figure 3. A 

large portion of these fires (27 percent) take place in bedrooms where lighters and matches (72 percent) are the heat 

source for the fire. 

Although intentional was the most common cause of 

fires involving people with mental disabilities, “possibly 

mentally disabled” was not the most common human factor contributing to the ignition in all residential building 

intentional fires—a possible mental disability was only the 

fourth most common factor contributing to intentional fires 

(15 percent).11

The next four leading causes of fires involving individuals with mental disabilities accounted for an additional 

40 percent combined: cooking (12 percent), smoking (10 

percent), other unintentional, careless actions (9 percent), 

and open flames (9 percent).12

Figure 3. Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities by Cause 

(2007–2009)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0

Unknown

Investigation with Arson Module

Other Unintentional, Careless

Equipment Misoperation, Failure

Exposure

Natural

Other Equipment

Other Heat

Open Flame

Appliances

Electrical Malfunction

Cooking

Heating

Smoking

Playing with Heat Source

Intentional

Percent of Residential 

Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities with 

Cause Determined

Percent of All Residential 

Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities

40.4

34.7

2.9

2.5

10.2

8.7

1.3

1.1

11.8

10.1

1.8

1.6

0.7

0.6

9.1

7.8

7.1

6.1

0.3

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.0

0.0

2.7

9.4

8.0

1.9

1.6

2.3

14.3

Percent of Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities

Causes Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Causes are listed in order of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Cause Hierarchy for ease of comparison of fire causes across different aspects of the fire problem. Fires are assigned 

to 1 of 16 cause groupings using a hierarchy of definitions, approximately as shown in the chart above. A fire is included in the highest category into which it fits. If it does not fit the 

top category, then the second one is considered, and if not that one, the third, and so on. For example, if the fire is judged to be intentionally set and a match was used to ignite it, it is 

classified as intentional and not open flame because intentional is higher in the hierarchy.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 5

Heat Source in Residential Building 

Fires Involving Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities

Figure 4 shows sources of heat categories in fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities. The “heat from open 

flame or smoking materials” category accounts for 52 percent of these fires. Within this category, lighters account for 

17 percent, cigarettes account for 11 percent, and matches 

account for 9 percent of fires involving individuals with 

mental disabilities.

The “heat from powered equipment” category, primarily 

heat from cooking-related equipment, accounts for 26 percent of all fires involving people with mental disabilities. 

The heat source was coded as “undetermined” in 25 

percent of all fires involving individuals with mental 

disabilities.

Figure 4. Heat Source for Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities (2007–2009)

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0

Undetermined

Chemical, natural heat source

Explosive, fireworks

Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions

Heat spread from another fire

Other heat source

Hot or smoldering object

Heat from powered equipment

Heat from open flame or smoking materials

Percent of Residential Building Fires 

Involving Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities with Heat Source 

Determined

Percent of All Residential Building 

Fires Involving Individuals with 

Mental Disabilities

52.0

39.0

25.8

19.4

10.4

7.8

5.2

3.9

3.0

2.3

2.0

1.5

0.2

0.2

1.4

1.1

24.9

Percent of Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Fire Spread in Residential Building 

Fires Involving Individuals with Mental 

Disabilities

Fires involving individuals with mental disabilities are 

largely confined to the room of origin (65 percent), either 

confined to the object of origin (31 percent) or spreading 

beyond the object but still confined to the room of origin 

(33 percent). Ninety-seven percent of fires involving people 

with mental disabilities never spread beyond the building 

of origin (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Extent of Residential Building Fire Spread in Fires Involving Individuals 

with Mental Disabilities (2007–2009)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0

Beyond building of origin

Confined to building of origin

Confined to floor of origin

Confined to room of origin

Confined to object of origin

Percent of Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities

31.1

33.4

24.1

8.1

3.2

Source: NFIRS 5.0.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 6

Where Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities Start 

(Area of Origin)

As shown in Table 4, the most common areas of origin for 

fires involving individuals with mental disabilities are the 

cooking area, kitchen (26 percent) and bedrooms (also 26 

percent). The next three leading areas of origin are common 

rooms which include dens, family rooms, living rooms, and 

lounges (10 percent), other functional areas (5 percent), and 

bathrooms, checkrooms, and lavatories (4 percent).

Table 4. Leading Areas of Fire Origin in Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with 

Mental Disabilities (2007–2009)

Areas of Fire Origin Percent of Fires (Unknowns Apportioned)

Cooking area, kitchen 25.9

Bedroom 25.5

Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 9.8

Function areas, other 4.9

Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory 4.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Factors Contributing to Ignition in 

Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities

Table 5 shows the categories of factors contributing to ignition in fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. 

By far, the leading category for these is “misuse of material or product” (71 percent). Misuse of material or product, other (23 percent of fires involving individuals with 

mental disabilities), heat source too close to combustibles 

(15 percent), abandoned or discarded materials or products 

(15 percent), and playing with heat source (11 percent) 

accounted for the majority of the fires in this category. 

The “other factors contributing to ignition,” a miscellaneous category, is the second most common contributing 

factor in fires involving individuals with mental disabilities 

(16 percent). The third most common category of factors 

contributing to the ignition of these fires is “operational 

deficiency” (13 percent). 

Table 5. Factors Contributing to Ignition for Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities by Major Category 

(Where Factors Contributing to Ignition are Specified, 2007–2009)

Factors Contributing to Ignition Category Percent of Fires

Misuse of material or product 71.2

Other factors contributing to ignition 16.1

Operational deficiency 13.0

Electrical failure, malfunction 2.5

Fire spread or control 1.7

Mechanical failure, malfunction 0.6

Design, manufacture, installation deficiency 0.5

Natural condition 0.4

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: 1) Includes only incidents where factors that contributed to the ignition of the fire were specified.

 2) Multiple factors contributing to fire ignition may be noted for each incident; total will exceed 100 percent. 

Alerting/Suppression Systems in 

Residential Building Fires Involving 

Individuals with Mental Disabilities

Smoke Alarm Data

Smoke alarm data presented in Tables 6 and 7 are the 

raw counts from the NFIRS data set and are not scaled to 

national estimates of smoke alarms in fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. In addition, NFIRS does not 

allow for the determination of the type of smoke alarm—

that is, if the smoke alarm was photoelectric or ionization, 

or the location of the smoke alarm with respect to the area 

of fire origin.

Overall, smoke alarms were present in 48 percent of fires 

involving individuals with mental disabilities. In 24 percent 

of fires, there were no smoke alarms present. In another 22 

percent of fires, firefighters were unable to determine if a 

smoke alarm was present (Table 6). 
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 7

Table 6. NFIRS Smoke Alarm Presence in Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities 

(NFIRS, 2007-2009)

Presence of Smoke Alarms

Fires

Count Percent

Present 1,620 47.5

None present 805 23.6

Undetermined 747 21.9

Null/Blank 237 7.0

Total Incidents 3,409 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: The data presented in this table are raw data counts from the NFIRS data set. They do not represent national estimates of smoke alarms in fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. They are presented 

for informational purposes. 

Smoke Alarms in Occupied Housing

Smoke alarms provide early warning in the event of a fire, 

giving occupants the opportunity to escape. Because the 

effectiveness of smoke alarms is measured by the building occupants’ hearing and responding to the alarms, the 

analysis of effectiveness (or performance) of smoke alarms 

is thus limited to occupied housing.13

One of the most important values of smoke alarms is detecting smoldering fires before they break into open flame or 

produce large volumes of smoke. Smoke alarms could be 

especially useful in early detection of fires involving individuals with disabilities, if the alarm is properly placed. 

Smoke alarms were reported as present in 55 percent of fires 

involving individuals with mental disabilities in occupied 

housing (Table 7). Smoke alarms are known to have operated 

in 33 percent of fires involving people with mental disabilities in occupied housing and were known to be absent in 

21 percent. Firefighters were unable to determine if a smoke 

alarm was present in another 24 percent of these fires.

When operational status is considered for fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities in occupied housing, 

the percentage of smoke alarms reported as present (55 

percent) consists of:

•	 smoke alarms present and operated—33 percent;

•	 present, but did not operate—14 percent (fire too small, 

5 percent; alarm did not operate, 9 percent); and

•	 present, but operational status unknown—9 percent. 

When the subset of incidents where smoke alarms were 

reported as present is analyzed separately, smoke alarms 

were reported to have operated in 59 percent of the incidents. The alarms did not operate in 25 percent of the 

incidents (in 16 percent of the incidents, the alarm failed to 

operate; in 9 percent, the fire was too small to activate the 

alarm). The operational status of the alarm was undetermined in an additional 16 percent of the incidents.

Table 7. NFIRS Smoke Alarm Data for Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with 

Mental Disabilities in Occupied Housing (NFIRS, 2007–2009)

Presence of 

Smoke Alarms Smoke Alarm Operational Status Smoke Alarm Effectiveness Count Percent

Present

Fire too small to activate smoke alarm 142 5.0

Smoke alarm operated

Smoke alarm alerted occupants, occupants responded

Smoke alarm alerted occupants, occupants failed to respond

No occupants

674

107

55

23.5

3.7

1.9

Smoke alarm failed to alert occupants 15 0.5

Undetermined 86 3.0

Smoke alarm failed to operate 258 9.0

Undetermined 246 8.6

None present 595 20.8

Undetermined 687 24.0

Total Incidents 2,865 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: The data presented in this table are raw data counts from the NFIRS data set. They do not represent national estimates of smoke alarms in residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. 

They are presented for informational purposes.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 8

Automatic Extinguishment System Data

Overall, full or partial automatic extinguishing systems 

(AESs), mainly sprinklers, were present in 5 percent of fires 

involving individuals with mental disabilities (Table 8). 

The small number of suppression equipment (sprinklers) in 

these fires is not unexpected as sprinklers are largely absent 

nationwide in residential buildings. Note that the data presented in Table 8 are the raw counts from the NFIRS data 

set and are not scaled to national estimates of AES in fires 

involving individuals with mental disabilities.

Table 8. NFIRS Automatic Extinguishing System Presence in Residential Building Fires 

Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities (2007–2009)

Presence of Automatic Extinguishing Systems

Fires

Count Percent

AES present 180 5.3

Partial system present 6 0.2

AES not present 2,834 83.1

Unknown 152 4.5

Null/Blank 237 7.0

Total Incidents 3,409 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: 1) The data presented in this table are raw data counts from the NFIRS data set. They do not represent national estimates of AESs in residential building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. They 

are presented for informational purposes.

 2) Total will not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

NFIRS Data Specifications for Residential 

Building Fires Involving Individuals with 

Mental Disabilities

Data for this report were extracted from the NFIRS annual 

Public Data Release (PDR) files for 2007, 2008, and 2009. 

Only version 5.0 data were extracted.

Residential building fires involving individuals with mental 

disabilities are defined using:

•	 Aid Types 3 (mutual aid given) and 4 (automatic aid given) 

are excluded to avoid double counting of incidents.

•	 Incident Types 111 to 123: 

Incident 

Type Description

111 Building fire

112 Fires in structure other than in a building

113 Cooking fire, confined to container

114 Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue

115 Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined

116 Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined

117 Commercial compactor fire, confined to rubbish

118 Trash or rubbish fire, contained

120 Fire in mobile property used as a fixed structure, other

121 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence

122 Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle

123 Fire in portable building, fixed location

Incident Type 112 is included prior to 2008 as previous analyses have shown that Incident Types 111 and 

112 were used interchangeably. As of 2008 and 2009, 

Incident Type 112 is excluded. 

Note that Incident Types 113 to 118 do not specify if the 

structure is a building.

•	 Property use 400-464 is included to specify residential 

buildings: 

Property Description Use

400 Residential, other

419 One- or two-family dwelling

429 Multifamily dwelling

439 Boarding/Rooming house, residential hotels

449 Hotel/Motel, commercial

459 Residential board and care

460 Dormitory-type residence, other

462 Sorority house, fraternity house

464 Barracks, dormitory

•	 Structure Type:

– For Incident Types 113–118:

▪ 1—Enclosed building,

▪ 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure, and

▪ Structure Type not specified (null entry).

– For Incident Types 111, 112, and 120–123:

▪ 1—Enclosed building, and

▪ 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure.

•	 Human Factor Contributing to Ignition Code 4 “possibly 

mentally disabled” was used to define fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities. 
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 9

The analyses contained in this report reflect the current methodologies used by the United States Fire 

Administration (USFA). The USFA is committed to providing the best and most current information on the United 

States fire problem, continually examining its data and 

methodology to fulfill this goal. Because of this commitment, data collection strategies and methodological 

changes are possible and do occur. As a result, analyses 

and estimates of the fire problem may change slightly over 

time. Previous analyses and estimates on specific issues (or 

similar issues) may have used different methodologies or 

data definitions and may not be directly comparable to the 

current ones.

To request additional information or to comment on this 

report, visit http://www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/

feedback/index.jsp

Notes: 

1 National estimates are based on 2007–2009 native version 5.0 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System 

(NFIRS), residential structure fire loss estimates from the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) annual surveys of 

fire loss, and the U.S. Fire Administration’s (USFA’s) residential building fire loss estimates. Fires are rounded to the nearest 

100, deaths to the nearest 5, injuries to the nearest 25, and loss to the nearest $million. 

2 In NFIRS, version 5.0, a structure is a constructed item of which a building is one type. In previous versions of NFIRS, the 

term “residential structure” commonly referred to buildings where people live. To coincide with this concept, the definition 

of a residential structure fire for NFIRS 5.0 has, therefore, changed to include only those fires where the NFIRS 5.0 Structure 

Type is 1 or 2 (enclosed building and fixed portable or mobile structure) with a residential property use. Such fires are 

referred to as “residential buildings” to distinguish these buildings from other structures on residential properties that may 

include fences, sheds, and other uninhabitable structures. Confined fire incidents that have a residential property use, but do 

not have a structure type specified are presumed to be buildings. Nonconfined fire incidents without a structure type specified are considered to be invalid incidents (structure type is a required field) and are not included.

3 Residential buildings include, but are not limited to, one- or two-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings, boarding 

houses or residential hotels, commercial hotels, college dormitories, and sorority/fraternity houses.

4 In approximately 3 percent of residential building fires where a possible mental disability was noted as a human factor 

contributing to the ignition of the fire, a physical disability was also noted.

5 Mark A. Brown, “Fire Suppression Operations in Buildings Equipped with an “Area of Rescue Assistance,” Concord 

Department of Fire and Life Safety, December 1, 2005. http://www.ci.concord.nc.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TfBCh6hZMA

Q%3D&tabid=166&mid=540 (accessed December 3, 2010).

6 “Rescue Assistance Made Easy,” securitymagazine.com, June 11, 2003. http://www.securitymagazine.com/Articles/

Technologies/f505c1ad744d8010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0 (accessed December 3, 2010).

7 In NFIRS, confined fires are defined by Incident Type codes 113 to 118.

8 NFIRS distinguishes between “content” and “property” loss. Content loss includes loss to the contents of a structure due 

to damage by fire, smoke, water, and overhaul. Property loss includes losses to the structure itself or to the property itself. 

Total loss is the sum of the content loss and the property loss. For confined fires, the expectation is that the fire did not 

spread beyond the container (or rubbish for Incident Type 118) and hence, there was no property damage (damage to the 

structure itself) from the flames. There could be, however, property damage as a result of smoke, water, and overhaul.

9 The average fire death and fire injury loss rates computed from the national estimates will not agree with average fire 

death and fire injury loss rates computed from NFIRS data alone. The fire death rate computed from national estimates for 

individuals with mental disabilities would be (1,000*(85/1,700)) = 50 deaths per 1,000 residential building fires involving 

individuals with mental disabilities. The fire injury rate would be (1,000*(250/1,700)) = 147 injuries per 1,000 residential 

building fires involving individuals with mental disabilities. 

10 For the purposes of this report, the time of the fire alarm is used as an approximation for the general time the fire 

started. However, in NFIRS, it is the time the fire was reported to the fire department.
TFRS Volume 12, Issue 5/Residential Building Fires Involving Individuals with Mental Disabilities Page 10

11 For intentional fires in residential buildings, the leading human factors contributing to ignition were: an unattended 

or unsupervised person (35 percent), age was a factor (26 percent), and being possibly impaired by alcohol or drugs (18 

percent).

12 The USFA cause hierarchy was used to determine the cause of fire incidents involving individuals with mental disabilities: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/nfirs/tools/fire_cause_category_matrix.shtm.

13 Analyses of smoke alarm performance and effectiveness in unoccupied residential buildings have shown a large number of 

“undetermined” entries. These undetermined entries are wholly logical if no occupants were present to acknowledge or 

respond to the alarms. The “undetermined” entries, however, muddy analyses of the data; analyses of only occupied residential buildings helps address this analytic problem.