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 14, Issue 12 / November 2013

Residential Building Garage Fires 

(2009-2011)

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. Also 

included are recent examples of fire incidents that demonstrate some of the issues 

addressed in the report or that put the 

report topic in context.

Findings

■ An estimated 6,600 residential building garage fires were reported to United States fire 

departments each year and caused an estimated 30 deaths, 400 injuries and $457 million 

in property loss.

■ Residential building garage fires are considered part of the residential fire problem and 

comprised about 2 percent of all residential building fires. 

■ Fires originating in residential building garages tend to be larger and spread farther than fires 

that start in other areas of a residence. 

■ Of residential building garage fires, 93 percent occurred in one- and two-family 

residential buildings. 

■ The leading causes of residential building garage fires were “electrical malfunction” (16 

percent); “other unintentional, careless” action (15 percent); and “open flame” (11 percent).

■ Residential building garage fires occurred most often in the colder months of January and 

December (at 10 percent each). Additionally, residential building garage fires also peaked in 

July at 10 percent.

■ Electrical arcing was the most common heat source in residential building garage fires 

(17 percent).

From 2009 to 2011, an estimated 6,600 residential building fires originating in attached garages were reported 

by U.S. fire departments annually. These fires caused an 

estimated 30 deaths, 400 injuries and $457 million in property damage.1, 2, 3 Residential building garage fires accounted 

for about 2 percent of all residential building fires reported 

to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 

from 2009 to 2011. 

In NFIRS, residential building garage fires are defined 

as those fires where the property use was reported to be 

residential, and the area of fire origin was noted to be a 

vehicle storage area (i.e., garage or carport). Therefore, this 

report focuses on garages that are physically attached to the 

residence.4

Attached garages are initially designed for the use of vehicle 

storage; however, many garages are used for storage or converted to living spaces, such as bedrooms and dens. When 

garages are converted for use as occupied spaces, they may 

often not have smoke alarms or heat sensors installed. 

Few, if any, building codes require smoke alarms in residential garages, so very few garages have smoke alarms 

installed. Detection of a fire in a garage takes longer due to 

the absence of automatic detection; this delay in fire detection gives a fire time to grow larger in size, ultimately causing more damage.5

 When a fire occurs in a garage, enough 

smoke may eventually reach the smoke alarms installed in 

other areas of the home, causing them to activate. 

The contents of garages may also result in fires that cause 

greater damage and present greater challenges to firefighters 

than encountered during other types of residential fires.6

The garage usually contains an array of fuel sources such as 

flammable liquids, paint, various chemicals, ammunition, 

newspapers and stored items. 

Other aspects of attached garages that may pose potential 

threats to firefighters include lightweight building assemblies often used to create a large, open space and garage 

doors, which should be safely secured in position so that 

they will not fall back down or close. This prevents firefighters from becoming trapped inside the building.7
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 2

This topical report addresses the characteristics of residential building garage fires as reported to NFIRS from 2009 

to 2011. The NFIRS data are used for the analyses presented 

throughout the report. For the purpose of the report, the 

terms “residential fires” and “garage fires” are synonymous 

with “residential building fires” and “residential building 

garage fires,” respectively. “Garage fires” is used throughout 

the body of this report; the findings, tables, charts, headings and endnotes reflect the full category, “residential 

building garage fires.”

Type of Fire

Building fires are divided into two classes of severity 

in NFIRS: “confined fires,” which are 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, fireplaces or certain other noncombustible containers not typically encountered in garages.8

 Confined fires 

rarely result in serious injury or large content loss and are 

expected to have no significant accompanying property 

loss due to flame damage.9

 Of the two classes of severity, nonconfined fires accounted for 97 percent of garage 

fires (Table 1). The smaller confined fires accounted for the 

remaining 3 percent. Because there are so few confined 

garage fires, the subsequent analyses in this report include 

all garage fires and do not distinguish between confined 

and nonconfined fires.

Table 1. Residential Building Garage Fires by Type of Incident (2009-2011) 

Incident Type Percent

Nonconfined fires 97.3

Confined fires 2.7

Trash or rubbish, contained 1.9

Cooking fire, confined to container 0.4

Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined 0.2

Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 0.1

Total 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Confined fire incident type percentages do not add up to the total confined fires percentage due to rounding.

Loss Measures

Table 2 presents losses, averaged over this three-year 

period, of reported garage and nongarage residential fires.10

Garage fires caused fewer fatalities per 1,000 fires than 

nongarage fires (Table 2). Garage fires, however, resulted in 

substantially more injuries per 1,000 fires and greater dollar 

loss per fire than nongarage fires. The increase in dollar loss 

per fire may ultimately be due to challenges in the detection 

and location of garage fires. The fires take longer to detect, 

become larger in size, and cause more widespread damage. 

Table 2. Loss Measures for Residential Building Garage and Nongarage Fires 

(Three-year Average, 2009-2011)

Measure Residential Building Garage Fires Residential Building Nongarage Fires

Average Loss:

Fatalities/1,000 fires 3.6 5.5

Injuries/1,000 fires 48.8 28.9

Dollar loss/fire $54,800 $14,690

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. When calculating the average dollar loss per fire for 2009-2011, the 2009 and 2010 dollar-loss values were adjusted to their equivalent 2011 dollar-loss values to account for inflation.

Property Use

Residential buildings are divided into three major property 

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

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, condominiums and town 

houses. Other residential buildings include all other types 

of residences, such as hotels or motels, long-term care 

facilities, dormitories, and sorority or fraternity housing. 
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 3

One- and two-family residential buildings accounted for 93 

percent of residential garage fires reported to NFIRS (Table 

3). By comparison, one- and two-family residential buildings accounted for 65 percent of fires originating in all 

other areas of residential buildings, more in line with the 

occurrence of one- and two-family residential building fires 

overall (66 percent).11

Table 3. Residential Building Garage and Nongarage Fires by Property Use (2009-2011)

Property Type Percent of Residential Building 

Garage Fires

Percent of Residential Building 

Nongarage Fires

One- and Two-family 93.3 64.9

Multifamily 3.6 28.7

Other 3.1 6.4

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

When Residential Building Garage 

Fires Occur

As shown in Figure 1, garage fires occurred most frequently 

in the late afternoon to early evening hours, peaking from 4 

to 8 p.m. and accounting for 23 percent of the fires.12 They 

gradually declined throughout the late evening and early 

morning hours, reaching the lowest point from 6 to 7 a.m. 

Beginning at 7 a.m., fire incidence started to increase until 

the peak hours were reached. 

Figure 1. Residential Building Garage Fires by Time of Alarm (2009-2011)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

11PM-Mid

10PM-11PM

9PM-10PM

1PM-2PM2PM-3PM3PM-4PM4PM-5PM5PM-6PM6PM-7PM7PM-8PM8PM-9PM

12PM-1PM

10AM-11AM

11AM-12PM

9AM-10AM

Mid-1AM

1AM-2AM2AM-3AM3AM-4AM4AM-5AM5AM-6AM6AM-7AM7AM-8AM8AM-9AM

Time of Alarm

Percent of Residential Building 

Garage Fires

4.3

3.9

3.5

3.1

2.8 2.7 2.5 2.6

2.9

3.2

3.7 4.0

5.6 5.6

4.9

4.6 4.8

4.1

4.9 4.9 4.9

5.5

5.9

4.9

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Total does not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

Figure 2 illustrates that garage fires peaked twice during the year, once in the colder months and again in the 

summer. The cold weather peak, which was the highest 

peak, occurred during the months of December (10 percent) and January (10 percent). The increase in garage fires 

during these two months was partially a result of electrical 

malfunctions and other unintentional, careless actions. The 

second peak in garage fires was seen during the month of 

July (10 percent). This summer peak was also primarily a 

result of electrical malfunctions. The lowest incidence of 

garage fires occurred in September, which saw the least 

number of garage fires caused by electrical malfunctions.
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 4

Figure 2. Residential Building Garage Fires by Month (2009-2011)

Month of Year

Percent of Residential Building 

Garage Fires

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

November

December

October

September

August

July

April

May

June

March

February

January

10.3

8.2 8.5 8.2 8.0 8.0

9.5

7.8

6.5

7.2

7.9

9.7

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Total does not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

Causes of Residential Building Garage 

Fires

Electrical malfunctions caused 16 percent of all garage fires 

as shown in Figure 3. This finding suggests that homeowners and residents should make it a priority to have electrical 

equipment and electrical wiring in garages inspected and 

properly maintained.

The next two leading causes combined accounted for 26 

percent of garage fires: other unintentional, careless actions 

(15 percent) and open flames (11 percent).13

Figure 3. Residential Building Garage Fires by Cause (2009-2011)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Unknown

Cause Under Investigation

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 Garage Fires

Causes

6.6

4.7

1.2

0.8

5.9

4.2

3.8

2.7

1.8

1.3

16.3

11.6

4.1

2.9

11.2

8.0

8.1

5.8

6.6

4.7

5.9

4.2

4.2

3.7

14.7

10.5

2.9

2.1

28.5

5.8

5.2

Percent of Residential 

Building Garage Fires with 

Cause Determined

Percent of Residential 

Building Garage Fires

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Notes: 1. Causes are listed in order of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Structure Fire Cause Hierarchy for ease of comparison of fire causes across different aspects of the fire problem. Fires 

are assigned to one 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.

2. Totals do not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 5

Fire Spread in Residential Building 

Garage Fires

The delay in the discovery of garage fires is evident in 

the extent of fire spread: 13 percent of garage fires were 

limited to the object of origin, 36 percent were limited 

to the room of origin, and 40 percent spread beyond the 

room of origin to the floor or building, while 11 percent 

of fires originating in garages spread beyond the building. 

Contrast this fire spread with the spread of fires originating 

elsewhere in residences: 58 percent of residential nongarage fires were limited to the object of origin, 19 percent 

were limited to the room of origin, and 21 percent spread 

beyond the room of origin to the floor or building, while 3 

percent of fires originating in nongarage areas of residences 

spread beyond the building.14

Figure 4. Extent of Fire Spread in Residential Building Garage and Nongarage Fires 

(2009-2011)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

Beyond Building of Origin

Limited to Building of Origin

Limited to Floor of Origin

Limited to Room of Origin

Limited to Object of Origin

13.4

57.5

4.9

4.6

16.5

34.7

18.7

35.7

2.7

11.4

Percent of Residential Building Fires

Fire Spread

Residential Building 

Garage Fires

Residential Building 

Nongarage Fires

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Total for residential building garage fires does not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

How Residential Building Garage Fires 

Start (Heat Source)

Figure 5 shows sources of heat categories in garage fires. 

The “heat from powered equipment” category, predominantly electrical distribution, lighting and power transfer 

equipment, accounted for 42 percent of all garage fires. 

Within this category, electrical arcing accounted for 17 

percent; heat from other powered equipment accounted 

for 11 percent; radiated or conducted heat from operating 

equipment accounted for 8 percent; and sparks, embers or 

flames from operating equipment accounted for 7 percent 

of all garage fires.15

The “hot or smoldering object” category accounted for 19 

percent of garage fires. This category includes fires started 

by hot embers or ashes (10 percent) and miscellaneous hot 

or smoldering objects (7 percent). The item that accounted 

for most garage fires in the third largest category, “heat 

from open flame or smoking material” (17 percent), was 

cigarettes (6 percent).
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 6

Figure 5. Sources of Heat in Residential Building Garage Fires by Major Category (2009-2011)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Undetermined

Explosive, Fireworks

Other Heat Source

Chemical, Natural Heat Source

Heat Spread From Another Fire

Heat From Open Flame or Smoking Material

Hot or Smoldering Object

Heat From Powered Equipment

Percent of Residential Building Garage Fires

42.3

26.6

18.5

11.6

16.9

10.6

8.4

5.3

5.9

3.7

6.2

3.9

1.7

1.1

37.2

Percent of Residential 

Building Garage Fires with 

Heat Source Determined

Percent of All Residential 

Building Garage Fires

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: Total for residential building garage fires with heat source determined does not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

What Ignites First in Residential Building 

Garage Fires

Electrical wire, cable insulation (11 percent); rubbish, trash 

or waste (8 percent); and structural member or framing 

(8 percent) were the leading specific items most often first 

ignited in garage fires (Table 4). Of interest, boxes, cartons, 

bags, barrels or wastebaskets were the items first ignited in 

6 percent of garage fires. 

Table 4. Leading Items First Ignited in Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011)

Item First Ignited Percent

(Unknowns Apportioned)

Electrical wire, cable insulation 10.6

Rubbish, trash, waste 8.4

Structural member or framing 7.9

Item first ignited, other 6.4

Box, carton, bag, barrel, wastebasket 5.7

Multiple items first ignited 5.7

Exterior sidewall covering, surface 5.7

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Factors Contributing to Ignition in 

Residential Building Garage Fires

Table 5 shows the categories of factors contributing to ignition in garage fires. By far, the leading category was “misuse of material or product” (47 percent). In this category, 

abandoned or discarded materials (16 percent) and heat 

source too close to combustibles (13 percent) were the specific factors that accounted for 29 percent of garage fires. 

The “electrical failure, malfunction” category was a contributing factor in 23 percent of garage fires. The leading 

specific factor contributing to ignition in this category was 

other electrical failure, malfunction (11 percent), followed 

by unspecified short-circuit arc (6 percent). “Fire spread or 

control” was the third leading factor contributing to ignition category at 11 percent. 
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 7

Table 5. Factors Contributing to Ignition for Residential Building Garage Fires by Major 

Category (Where Factors Contributing to Ignition are Specified, 2009-2011)

Factors Contributing to Ignition Category Percent of Residential Building Garage Fires

Misuse of material or product 47.2

Electrical failure, malfunction 22.9

Fire spread or control 10.7

Mechanical failure, malfunction 8.3

Operational deficiency 7.4

Other factors contributing to ignition 5.2

Natural condition 3.0

Design, manufacture, installation deficiency 1.4

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; the total will exceed 100 percent.

Alerting/Suppression Systems in 

Residential Building Garage Fires

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 residential buildings 

where garage fires occurred. 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.

Few, if any, smoke alarms are listed by Underwriters 

Laboratories for use in the temperature extremes that 

an attached garage can experience. In fact, the National 

Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) specifies that 

smoke alarms should not be installed in garages because, in 

general, garages are not temperature controlled; therefore, 

they are sometimes above or below the temperature range 

for which the smoke alarm was designed. Additionally, 

vehicle exhaust fumes will cause nuisance alarms and may 

lead to degradation in smoke alarm performance.16 For these 

reasons, few, if any, codes require smoke alarms in garages 

in one- and two-family residential buildings, where 93 percent of garage fires occurred. As a result, very few garages 

have smoke alarms installed. 

Smoke and heat rise; if the alarm is activated, it is often 

because of smoke seepage from any openings in the garage 

to other areas of the home. Hence, if smoke alarms operate, 

they are generally late in the detection and notification of 

garage fires.

Overall, smoke alarms were present in 40 percent of 

residences where garage fires occurred and were known 

to have operated in 24 percent of the fires. Because NFIRS 

does not collect information on the location of the smoke 

alarm with respect to the area of fire origin, it is assumed 

that many smoke alarms were located in the residence 

and not necessarily in the attached garage. By comparison, 

smoke alarms were present in 42 percent of nonconfined, 

nongarage fires and operated in 25 percent. In 32 percent of 

garage fires, no smoke alarms were present. In another 26 

percent of these fires, firefighters were unable to determine 

if a smoke alarm was present (Table 6).

While 12 percent of all garage fires occurred in residential 

buildings that are not currently or routinely occupied, these 

buildings — which are under construction, undergoing 

major renovation, vacant and the like — are unlikely to 

have alerting and suppression systems that are in place and, 

if in place, that operate. In fact, only 8 percent of all garage 

fires in unoccupied residential buildings were reported as 

having smoke alarms that operated. In addition, automatic 

suppression systems were reported as present in less than 1 

percent of garage fires in residential buildings that were not 

routinely occupied. As a result, the detailed smoke alarm 

analyses in the next section focus on garage fires in occupied residential buildings only.
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 8

Table 6. NFIRS Smoke Alarm Presence in Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011)

Presence of Smoke Alarms Count Percent

Present 5,800 40.2

None present 4,678 32.4

Undetermined 3,726 25.8

Null/Blank 236 1.6

Total incidents 14,440 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: 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 garage fires. They are presented for informational 

purposes. 

Smoke Alarms in Occupied Residential Building 

Garage Fires

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 garage fires, 

if the alarm is properly placed. 

Smoke alarms were reported as present in 43 percent of 

garage fires in occupied residential buildings (Table 7). 

Smoke alarms were known to have operated in 26 percent 

of garage fires in occupied residential buildings and were 

known to be absent in 31 percent. Firefighters were unable 

to determine if a smoke alarm was present in another 26 

percent of these fires.

When operational status is considered, the percentage of 

smoke alarms reported as present (43 percent) consisted of:

•	 Present and operated — 26 percent.

•	 Present, but did not operate — 9 percent (fire too small, 

5 percent; alarm failed to operate, 4 percent).

•	 Present, but operational status unknown — 8 percent. 

When the subset of incidents where smoke alarms were 

reported as present was analyzed separately, smoke alarms 

were reported to have operated in 60 percent of the incidents. The alarms failed to operate in 9 percent of the incidents. In 13 percent of the subset, the fire was too small to 

activate the alarm. The operational status of the alarm was 

undetermined in an additional 18 percent of the incidents.

Table 7. NFIRS Smoke Alarm Data for Occupied Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011)

Presence of 

Smoke Alarms Smoke Alarm Operational Status Smoke Alarm Effectiveness Count Percent

Present

Fire too small to activate smoke alarm 691 5.4

Smoke alarm operated

Smoke alarm alerted occupants, occupants responded 2,092 16.4

Smoke alarm alerted occupants, occupants failed to respond 77 0.6

No occupants 380 3.0

Smoke alarm failed to alert occupants 208 1.6

Undetermined 539 4.2

Smoke alarm failed to operate 509 4.0

Undetermined 1,010 7.9

None present 3,901 30.5

Undetermined 3,366 26.4

Total incidents 12,773 100.0

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note: 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 occupied residential building garage fires. They are presented for 

informational purposes. 

Automatic Extinguishing System Data

Overall, full or partial automatic extinguishing systems 

(AESs), mainly sprinklers, were present in just 2 percent of 

garage fires in occupied residential buildings (Table 8). 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 garage fires. The lack of suppression equipment 

(sprinklers) in homes experiencing garage fires is not 

unexpected, as sprinklers are largely absent nationwide in 

residential buildings.17 In addition, none of the national 

model codes require sprinklers in garages in one- and twofamily residences,18 the location of 93 percent of garage fires 

reported to NFIRS. 
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 9

USFA recommends that homeowners consider installing a 

single (sidewall) sprinkler head adjacent to the entry door 

of the garage to the home. Even in garages which may 

be subject to freezing temperatures, if properly installed, 

the single head on the interior wall should not freeze. 

Additionally, USFA encourages the use of a 30-minute fireresistive wall separating the garage from the interior of the 

home and the installation of a rate of rise (heat) detector 

device to aid in the early detection of garage fires.19

Table 8. NFIRS Automatic Extinguishing System Data for Occupied 

Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011)

Presence of Automatic Extinguishing Systems Count Percent

AES present 236 1.8

Partial system present 11 0.1

AES not present 11,891 93.1

Unknown 635 5.0

Total incidents 12,773 100.0

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 AESs in occupied residential building garage fires. They are presented for informational 

purposes. 

Examples

The following are some recent examples of garage fires 

reported by the media:

•	 July 2013: An early morning fire broke out in an attached 

garage of a two-story home in Vancouver, Washington. 

Smoldering fireworks disposed of in a garbage can caused 

the fire that damaged the garage and the vehicles parked 

inside it. The occupants had been setting off fireworks 

the previous evening and had gone to bed before the fire 

started. One resident refused to be transported to the 

hospital for the treatment of a smoke inhalation injury. No 

other injuries were reported as a result of the blaze.20

•	 May 2013: Firefighters were quickly able to extinguish 

a fire that started in an attached garage in Pittsfield 

Township, Michigan. The firefighters were dispatched to 

the home at 1:28 a.m. and were able to contain the fire to 

the garage area. According to fire department officials, the 

fire was believed to have resulted from careless smoking. 

Occupants of the home were able to evacuate safely and no 

injuries were reported.21

•	 April 2013: An attached garage fire resulted in an estimated 

$25,000 in damage to a home in Mentor, Ohio. Firefighters 

arrived on-scene around 1:20 p.m. and quickly worked to 

extinguish the fire that broke out on the exterior wall of 

the garage. Fire officials reported that the fire was caused 

by discarded hot embers that ignited the siding on the 

garage’s exterior.22

•	 February 2013: At around 3 p.m., firefighters responded 

to a lawn mower fire in an attached garage in Hugo, 

Minnesota. Upon arrival, fire crews found the three-car 

garage to be fully involved. Firefighters were able to contain the fire before it spread through the single-story home. 

One firefighter suffered minor burn injuries and was transported to the hospital. No other injuries were reported.23

NFIRS Data Specifications for Residential 

Building Garage Fires

Data for this report were extracted from the NFIRS annual 

Public Data Release files for 2009, 2010 and 2011. Only version 5.0 data were extracted. 

Garage fires were defined using the following criteria:

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

given) were excluded to avoid double counting of 

incidents.

•	 Incident Types 111 to 123 (excluding Incident Type 112):

Incident 

Type Description

111 Building fire

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

Note: Incident Types 113 to 118 do not specify if the structure is a building.
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 10

•	 Property Use series 400, which consists of the following:

Property 

Use Description

400 Residential, other

419 One- or two-family dwelling, detached, manufactured 

home, mobile home not in transit, duplex

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 to 118:

o 1—Enclosed building.

o 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure, and

o Structure Type not specified (null entry).

– For Incident Types 111 and 120 to 123:

o 1—Enclosed building.

o 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure.

•	 Area of Fire Origin code 47 (vehicle storage area: garage, 

carport).

The analyses contained in this report reflect the current 

methodologies used by the USFA. USFA is committed to 

providing the best and most current information on the 

U.S. fire problem and continually examines 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 https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/feedback/.

Notes: 

1 National estimates are based on 2009-2011 native version 5.0 data from NFIRS, residential structure fire-loss estimates 

from the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) annual surveys of fire loss, and USFA’s residential building fire-loss 

estimates: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/estimates/index.shtm. For information on NFPA’s survey methodology, please 

see NFPA’s report on fire loss in the U.S.: http://www.nfpa.org/~/media/Files/Research/NFPA%20reports/Overall%20

Fire%20Statistics/osfireloss.pdf. In this topical report, estimates of fires are rounded to the nearest 100, deaths to the nearest 

five, injuries to the nearest 25, and losses to the nearest million dollars. 

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 structures 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. In addition, 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 that have a residential property use 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 NFIRS, garages that are not physically attached to the residential building are considered to be nonresidential buildings 

and, therefore, are not part of the scope of this report.

5 Greg Jakubowski, “Fighting Fire in Attached Garages,” May 2012 issue of FireRescue, http://www.firefighternation.com/

article/firefighting-operations/fighting-fire-attached-garages (accessed Aug. 8, 2013).

6 Greg Jakubowski, “Fighting Fire in Attached Garages,” May 2012 issue of FireRescue, http://www.firefighternation.com/

article/firefighting-operations/fighting-fire-attached-garages (accessed Aug. 8, 2013).

7 Mark van der Feyst, “The Hidden Dangers of Garage Fires,” Fire Engineering, http://www.fireengineering.com/

articles/2013/03/the-hidden-dangers-of-garage-fires._printArticle.html (accessed Aug. 8, 2013).
TFRS Volume 14, Issue 12/Residential Building Garage Fires (2009-2011) Page 11

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

9 NFIRS distinguishes between “content” and “property” loss. Content loss includes losses 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 code 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.

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

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

(1,000*(30/6,600)) = 4.5 deaths per 1,000 residential building garage fires, and the fire injury rate is (1,000*(400/6,600) = 

60.6 injuries per 1,000 residential building garage fires. 

11 “One- and Two-Family Residential Building Fires (2009-2011),” Topical Fire Report Series, U.S. Fire Administration, 

September 2013, Volume 14, Issue 10, http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v14i10.pdf. 

12 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.

13 The USFA Structure Fire Cause Methodology was used to determine the cause of residential building garage fires: www.

usfa.fema.gov/fireservice/nfirs/tools/fire_cause_category_matrix.shtm.

14 Total percent of residential building nongarage fires does not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

15 Total does not add up to 42 percent due to rounding.

16 The National Association of State Fire Marshals, “Smoke Alarm Facts,” http://firemarshals.org/rfsi/smokealarmfacts.html 

(accessed Aug. 13, 2013).

17 “Residential Building Fires (2009-2011),” Topical Fire Report Series, U.S. Fire Administration, May 2013, Volume 14, Issue 4, 

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v14i4.pdf. 

18 NFPA 13D (2013).

19 U.S. Fire Administration, “Building Construction: Residential Garage Fires and Built-in Protection,” Coffee Break Training 

— Fire Protection Series, No. FP-2013-47-1 November 19, 2013, http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/coffee-break/index.shtm.

20 Emily Gillespie, “Update: Smoldering fireworks cause garage fire in Village at Fishers Landing,” columbian.com, July 5, 2013, 

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/jul/05/smoldering-fireworks-damages-garage-village-fisher/ (accessed Aug. 6, 2013).

21 Ben Baird, “Pittsfield Twp: Fire in attached garage believed started by careless smoking,” heritage.com, May 1, 2013, http://

www.heritage.com/articles/2013/05/01/ypsilanti_courier/news/doc517e7a4676aff351881900.txt (accessed Aug. 6, 2013).

22 “Mentor garage fire causes $25,000 in damage,” news-herald.com, April 15, 2013, http://news-herald.com/

articles/2013/04/15/news/nh6798768.txt (accessed Aug. 6, 2013).

23 “Crews stop attached garage fire in Hugo,” twincitiesfirewire.com, Feb. 3, 2013, http://twincitiesfirewire.

com/2013/02/03/crews-stop-attached-garage-fire-in-hugo/ (accessed Aug. 6, 2013).