NFIRS Data Snapshot

 Medical Facility Fires (2014-2016)

For each year from 2014 to 2016, an estimated 5,800 medical facility fires were reported to fire departments in the 

United States. It is estimated that these fires caused five deaths, 150 injuries and $56 million in property loss per year.1

The average number of fatalities per 1,000 medical 

facility fires reported to the National Fire Incident 

Reporting System (NFIRS) from 2014 to 2016 was 0.8. 

During the same time period, the number of injuries 

per 1,000 fires was 17.6. Additionally, the amount of 

dollar loss per medical facility fire was $13,360.2

Loss measures for medical facility fires 

(three-year average, 2014-2016)

Loss measure Medical facility fires

Average loss:

Fatalities/1,000 fires 0.8

Injuries/1,000 fires 17.6

Dollar loss/fire $13,360

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

From 2014 to 2016, nearly half of all medical facility fires occurred in nursing homes and, of those, 75 percent were 

confined fires. Confined fires are smaller fires that rarely result in death, serious injury or large content losses.3 

Nonconfined fires — larger and more serious fires — represented the remaining 25 percent of nursing home fires. 

This distribution mirrors that of medical facilities as a whole, where 73 percent of the fires were confined and 27 

percent were nonconfined. Indeed, in most other facility types, the majority of fires, ranging from 56 to 88 percent, 

were confined fires. The notable exception to this trend was in doctors’ offices, where the majority of fires, 60 percent, 

were nonconfined. It is possible that more of these larger building fires occurred in doctors’ offices because there are 

long periods of time in the evening and early morning hours when there is no one on staff at the location.

Medical facility fires by type of facility (2014-2016)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Nonconfined

Confined

End stage renal disease facilities

Hospices

Psychiatric hospitals

Clinics and ambulatory care facilities

Doctors' offices

Other clinics, medical offices and facilities

Substance abuse recovery centers

Care facilities for individuals with

 intellectual disabilities

Hospitals

Nursing homes 48.5

Percent

17.6

15.4

5.8

5.3

4.2

1.3

1.2

0.1

0.4

Source: NFIRS 5.0. 

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

National Fire Data Center

16825 S. Seton Ave.

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/
Medical facility fires occurred 

most frequently during the 

mid-to-late morning as well as 

the late afternoon and early 

evening hours, peaking from 

4 to 5 p.m. at 8 percent. These 

periods of high fire incidence 

coincide with meal preparation 

times in hospitals and nursing 

homes.

Medical facility fires by time of alarm (2014-2016)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

11 p.m. - Mid

10 - 11 p.m.

9 - 10 p.m.

1 - 2 p.m.2 - 3 p.m.3 - 4 p.m.4 - 5 p.m.5 - 6 p.m.6 - 7 p.m.7 - 8 p.m.8 - 9 p.m.

12 - 1 p.m.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

10 - 11 a.m.

9 - 10 a.m.

1 - 2 a.m.2 - 3 a.m.3 - 4 a.m.4 - 5 a.m.5 - 6 a.m.6 - 7 a.m.7 - 8 a.m.8 - 9 a.m.

Mid - 1 a.m.

1.9 2.1

1.4

2.1

3.2

5.3

6.0

5.5 5.5

6.0 6.2

5.3 5.3 5.6

7.5

6.5

5.2

4.4

3.6 3.4

2.6 2.3

1.51.5

Time of alarm

Percent

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

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

Causes of medical facility fires (2014-2016)

All other causes

14.2% Electrical

malfunction

4.5%

Heating

4.7%

Appliances

5.3%

Cooking

71.3%

Source: NFIRS 5.0.

Note:	 Percentages	are	adjusted	for	those	fires	with	unknown	values	

of	cause.	Eight	percent	of	medical	facility	fires	had	unknown	

values	of	cause.

The leading causes of all medical facility fires were: cooking 

(71 percent), appliances (5 percent), heating (5 percent) and 

electrical malfunction (5 percent). While cooking was the leading 

cause of medical facility fires overall, it only accounted for 6 

percent of the nonconfined medical facility fires. At 21 percent, 

“appliances” was the leading cause category of nonconfined 

fires, followed by electrical malfunction (18 percent), intentional 

actions (9 percent), heating (7 percent), other unintentional 

or careless actions (7 percent), and other heat (7 percent).

Of the medical facility fires, 81 percent were limited to the object of origin. Only 5 percent extended beyond the 

room of origin.

Extent of fire spread in medical facility fires (2014-2016)

81.4

Percent

Fire spread

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

Beyond building

 of origin

Limited to building

 of origin

Limited to floor

 of origin

Limited to room

 of origin

Limited to object

 of origin

13.9

1.4

3.1

0.2

Source: NFIRS 5.0.
For more information on medical providers, including fire safety inspections and quality of care data, visit: https://

www.medicare.gov/forms-help-resources/find-compare-doctors-hospitals-other-providers. For information on 

fire prevention, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/.

For additional fire statistics, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/.

Sources: NFIRS 5.0 and the National Fire Protection Association.

Notes:	 1.	Medical facilities are defined by Property Use Codes 311 to 343. Fires are defined as a subset of nonresidential building fires in NFIRS by using Incident Types 111

to 123 (excluding Incident Type 112). For Incident Types 113 to 118, the Structure Type is 1, 2 or null, and for Incident Types 111 and 120 to 123, the Structure

Type is 1 or 2. Aid Types 3 (mutual aid given) and 4 (automatic aid given) were excluded to avoid counting a single incident more than once.

	 2.	Average loss for fatalities and injuries is computed per 1,000 fires. Average dollar loss is computed per fire and rounded to the nearest $10. The 2014 and

2015 dollar-loss values were adjusted to 2016 dollars. The average loss measures computed from the NFIRS data alone in the table differ from the average

loss measures computed from national estimates. The fire death rate computed from national estimates is (1,000 x (5/5,800)) = 0.9 deaths per 1,000 medical

facility fires, and the fire injury rate is (1,000 x (150/5,800)) = 25.9 injuries per 1,000 medical facility fires.

	 3.	In NFIRS, confined fires are defined by Incident Types 113 to 118.