Fire in the United States 

2006-2015

19th Edition

December 2017
Mission Statement

We provide national leadership to foster a solid foundation for 

our fi re and emergency services stakeholders in prevention, 

preparedness and response.
Table of Contents i

Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................................. 1

Purpose and scope............................................................................................................ 1

National problem............................................................................................................... 2

Regional and state profiles............................................................................................... 2

Residences and other properties .................................................................................... 3

Causes of fires and fire losses ......................................................................................... 3

Residential.................................................................................................................... 3

Nonresidential............................................................................................................. 4

Vehicle........................................................................................................................... 4

Outside......................................................................................................................... 4

Other............................................................................................................................. 4

Race, age and gender characteristics of victims ........................................................... 4

Conclusions......................................................................................................................... 5

Prevention and other resources...................................................................................... 6

Fire in the United States 2006-2015 19th Edition............................................................ 7

Introduction........................................................................................................................ 7

Data sources....................................................................................................................... 8

National Fire Incident Reporting System................................................................. 9

National Fire Incident Reporting System enhancements...................................... 16

National Fire Incident Reporting System training and resources ........................ 17

Uses of the National Fire Incident Reporting System............................................ 17

U.S. fire departments ................................................................................................. 18

Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 19

Analytic issues and considerations .......................................................................... 19

Representativeness of the sample .................................................................... 19

National estimates ............................................................................................... 20

Data quality........................................................................................................... 21

Unknown entries.................................................................................................. 22

Incomplete loss reporting................................................................................... 23

Unreported fires................................................................................................... 23

Structures versus buildings ................................................................................ 24

Computing trends ................................................................................................ 26

Rounding ............................................................................................................... 26

Comparing statistics ............................................................................................ 26

Data collection and reporting changes............................................................. 27

Confined fires........................................................................................................ 27

Structure fire cause methodology..................................................................... 27

Differences between the National Fire Incident Reporting System data 

and the National Fire Protection Association survey data...................... 31

Organization of report...................................................................................................... 38

The National Fire Problem ................................................................................................. 39

Fires and losses (10-year trends, 2006 to 2015) ............................................................ 39

Fire loss rates (2006-2015)................................................................................................ 42

Types of properties where fires occur ............................................................................ 44

Fires and fire losses by general property type (2015) ........................................... 44

Fire casualties and dollar loss per fire by general property type (2015)............. 46
ii Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Buildings and other properties........................................................................................ 47

Buildings....................................................................................................................... 47

Residential building fires and losses ........................................................................ 48

All residential buildings.............................................................................................. 48

One- and two-family residential buildings .............................................................. 51

Multifamily residential buildings .............................................................................. 53

Other residential buildings........................................................................................ 56

Nonresidential buildings............................................................................................ 58

Vehicles and other mobile properties...................................................................... 60

Outside and other properties ................................................................................... 65

Causes of fires and losses ................................................................................................ 68

Causes of residential building fires .......................................................................... 68

Causes of nonresidential building fires ................................................................... 73

Causes of vehicle fires................................................................................................ 74

Causes of outside fires............................................................................................... 76

Causes of other fires................................................................................................... 77

Fire casualties..................................................................................................................... 79

Fire deaths ................................................................................................................... 79

State profiles......................................................................................................... 80

Age ......................................................................................................................... 83

Gender ................................................................................................................... 85

Race........................................................................................................................ 88

Fire injuries .................................................................................................................. 88

Age ......................................................................................................................... 89

Gender ................................................................................................................... 91

Acronyms.............................................................................................................................. 95
Executive Summary 1

Executive Summary

Fire departments in the United States responded to nearly 1.3 million fire calls in 2015.1

The U.S. fire problem no longer ranks as the most severe of the industrialized nations, 

yet thousands of Americans die each year, tens of thousands of people are injured, and 

property losses reach billions of dollars. There are huge indirect costs of fire as well, 

including temporary lodging, lost business revenues, medical expenses, psychological 

damage, and others. To put this into context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, 

tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters combined in the U.S. average just a 

fraction of those from fires.2 The public, the media and local governments are generally 

unaware of the magnitude and seriousness of the fire problem and how it affects 

individuals and their families, communities and the nation.

Purpose and scope

The National Fire Data Center (NFDC) of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) periodically 

publishes “Fire in the United States,” a statistical overview of the fires in the U.S., with the 

focus on the latest year in which data was available. This report provides the fire service 

and others with information that motivates corrective action, sets priorities, targets 

specific fire programs, serves as a model for state and local analyses of fire data, and 

provides a baseline for evaluating programs.

This 19th edition covers the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, with a primary focus on 

2015.3 The report addresses the overall national fire problem. Detailed analyses of the 

residential and nonresidential fire problem, firefighter casualties, and other subsets of 

the national fire problem are not included. These topic-specific analyses are addressed 

as separate, stand-alone publications.

The primary source of data is from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) annual survey results, mortality data from 

the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), data from state fire marshals’ offices or 

their equivalents, population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and inflation adjustments 

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) are also used. Because 

of the time it takes for states to submit data to the USFA from the thousands of fire 

departments that participate in the NFIRS, then obtain corrections and edit the data, and 

analyze and display the results, the publication lags behind the date of data collection. 

Fortunately, the fire problem does not change very rapidly, so the data is usually quite 

representative of the situation in the year of publication as well.

1

NFPA, “Fire Loss in the United States During 2015,” September 2016.

2National Weather Service (NWS), National Hazard Statistics, 2015: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats/

sum15.pdf. 3Only native NFIRS Version 5.0 data was used for NFIRS-based analyses. By Jan. 1, 2009, NFIRS 4.1 data was no 

longer accepted by the system.
2 Fire in the United States 2006-2015

National problem

Annual deaths from fire in the U.S. were estimated at 12,000 in 1974, the year in which 

the USFA was established.4 At that time, a goal was set for reducing this number by half 

within a generation. This goal was met. By 2012, NFPA estimates of civilian deaths were at 

their lowest level (2,855). While fire deaths are still trending downward, in 2015, the NFPA 

estimates of fire deaths were 15 percent higher than they were in 2012.5

Table 1 presents 10-year fire and fire-loss rate trends. Fires per million population reached 

a new low in 2013, continuing the downward trend. Dollar loss per capita decreased 26 

percent over the 10 years. Injuries and deaths per million population continued to decline. 

The trend in the death rate (deaths per million population) declined 10 percent from 2006 

to 2015, and it is less than a third of what it was in the late 1970s.6 Nevertheless, the U.S. 

has a fire death rate 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than that of several European nations. Of the 

28 industrialized nations examined by the World Fire Statistics Centre, the U.S. ranked as 

having the 12th highest fire death rate.

Table 1. Fire and fire loss rate trends (2006-2015)

Loss measure 10-year trend (percent)

Fires per million population -25.0

Deaths per million population -9.9

Injuries per million population -14.2

Dollar loss/capita* -26.1

Sources: NFPA, CPI and U.S. Census Bureau.

*The 2006 to 2014 dollar-loss values were adjusted to 2015 dollars.

Regional and state profiles

The fire problem varies from region to region and state to state because of variations in 

climate, socioeconomic status, education, demographics and other factors. In 2015, three 

states (Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi) and the District of Columbia had fire death 

rates that exceeded 20 deaths per million population. Twenty states, mostly situated in 

the Southeast and Midwest, had death rates between 10.5 and 20 deaths per million 

population. Additionally, 21 states had fire death rates below the national fire death rate — 

10.5 deaths per million population. While some state death rates were still high, overall, 

states have made great progress in lowering the absolute number of fire deaths and their 

deaths per million population.7

4“America Burning.” The Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, 1973. NFPA changed 

their estimation methodology in the mid-1970s. As a result, by 1977, the estimate of fire deaths had already 

dropped to approximately 7,400 and rose the next year to 7,700. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the 50 

percent reduction in fire deaths was achieved.

5The NFPA estimated fire deaths to be 3,280 in 2015. For the same year, the NCHS mortality data reflected 

3,362 fire deaths. The NCHS mortality data suggest that fire deaths may be 2.5 percent higher than the NFPA 

estimate of fire deaths.

6The fire death rate used throughout “Fire in the United States,” however, reflects the number of fire deaths 

(3,362) from the 2015 NCHS mortality data. This death rate is 10.5 fire deaths per million population. In 1979, the 

fire death rate was 34.8 deaths per million population, as cited in USFA’s “America Burning Revisited,” 1987, p. 15.

7This analysis includes only states where fire death rates were computed. Fire death rates were not computed 

for Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming due to very small numbers 

of fire deaths (fewer than 10 deaths).
Executive Summary 3

Ten states, mostly largely-populated states, accounted for 48 percent of the national total 

U.S. fire deaths. Unless their fire problems are significantly reduced, the national total will 

be difficult to lower.

Residences and other properties

Over the years, there has been little change in the proportion of fires, deaths, injuries and 

dollar loss by the type of property involved. In terms of numbers of reported fires, the 

largest category continued to be outside fires (41 percent) — in fields, vacant lots, trash, 

etc. Residential and nonresidential structure fires together constituted 39 percent of fires, 

with residential structure fires outnumbering nonresidential structure fires by over 3 to 1. 

What may be surprising was the large proportion of vehicle fires. In fact, approximately 1 

out of every 7 fires to which fire departments responded involved a vehicle.

By far, the largest percentage of reported deaths — 75 percent in 2015 — occurred on 

residential properties, with the majority of these on one- and two-family properties. 

Vehicles accounted for the second largest percentage of fire deaths at 18 percent. Great 

attention is given to large, multiple-death fires in public places, such as hotels, nightclubs 

and office buildings; however, fires that kill 10 or more people are few in number and 

constitute only a small portion of overall fire deaths. Furthermore, public properties 

are generally required by local codes to have built-in fire suppression systems. The area 

with the largest problem is most commonly overlooked — in people’s homes. Prevention 

efforts continue to focus on home fire safety.

Only 3 percent of the 2015 fire deaths occurred in nonresidential commercial and public 

properties. Outside and other miscellaneous fires, including wildfires, were also a small 

factor (4 percent combined) in fire deaths.

The picture was generally similar for fire injuries, with 76 percent of all reported injuries 

occurring on residential properties. The remaining fire injuries were distributed across 

the other property types — vehicles, 8 percent; nonresidential properties, 7 percent; and 

outside and other fires, 9 percent.

The picture changes somewhat for dollar loss. While residential properties were the leading 

property type for dollar loss, nonresidential properties played a considerable role. These two 

general property types accounted for 81 percent of all reported dollar loss. The proportion 

of dollar loss from outside fires may be understated because the destruction of trees, grass, 

etc., is often given zero value in fire reports if it is not commercial cropland or timber.

Causes of fires and fire losses

Residential

At 51 percent, cooking was the leading cause of residential building fires. Heating caused 

another 11 percent. These percentages (and those that follow) are adjusted, which 

proportionally spreads the unknown causes over the other 15 cause categories.

The leading causes of residential fatal fires were other unintentional or careless actions at 

17 percent and smoking at 14 percent. The cause category “other unintentional or careless 

actions” includes the misuse of materials or products, abandoned or discarded materials 

or products, heat source too close to combustibles, and other unintentional actions. The 

cause was reported as under investigation in another 15 percent of the residential fatal fires. 
4 Fire in the United States 2006-2015

The leading cause of residential fires that resulted in injuries was cooking (36 percent). 

Cooking was, by far, the leading cause of fires resulting in dollar loss at 29 percent, 

followed by electrical malfunction at 11 percent.

Nonresidential

For nonresidential building fires, cooking was the leading cause of fires (30 percent), 

followed by other unintentional or careless actions (10 percent). Other unintentional or 

careless actions (13 percent), cooking (12 percent), and electrical malfunctions (12 percent) 

were the leading causes of fires resulting in dollar loss in nonresidential buildings.

Vehicle

Unintentional actions were the leading cause of fires and fires resulting in dollar loss in 

vehicles (39 and 38 percent, respectively). In 23 percent of vehicle fires, the causes were 

undetermined after the investigations. Failure of equipment or heat source, at 22 percent, 

was the second leading cause of fires resulting in dollar loss.

Outside

Unintentional actions were the leading cause of fires and fires resulting in dollar loss in 

outside fires (each at 43 percent). In 26 percent of outside fires and 23 percent of outside 

fires resulting in dollar loss, causes were undetermined after the investigations.

Other

Just as with vehicle and outside fires, unintentional actions were the leading cause of 

other fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (45 and 47 percent, respectively). Failure of 

equipment or heat source was the second leading cause of other fires (20 percent) and 

other fires resulting in dollar loss (25 percent).

Race, age and gender characteristics of victims

Fire losses affect all groups and races, rich and poor, Northern and Southern, urban and 

rural. But the problem is greater for some groups than for others. African-Americans 

and American Indians/Alaskan Native males had much higher fire death rates than the 

national average. African-Americans constituted a large and disproportionate share of 

total fire deaths, accounting for 21 percent of fire deaths in 2015, but only 13 percent of 

the U.S. population.

Males were 1.7 times more likely to die in fires than females. The percentage of female 

fire deaths in the 70 and older age group exceeded that of their male counterparts and 

accounted for approximately one-third (34 percent) of all female fire deaths. Male fire 

deaths, by contrast, were highest for those adults ages 50 to 69, accounting for 41 percent 

of male fire deaths.

The majority of fire-related injuries occurred in adults ages 20 to 59. This age group 

accounted for 63 percent of the fire injuries in 2015. Males ages 10 to 54 had a higher 

proportion of injuries than females, while older adult females had more injuries than 

older adult males.8

8The USFA defines older adults as ages 65 and older.
Executive Summary 5

People with limited physical and cognitive abilities, especially older adults, are at a higher 

risk of death from fire than other groups. Older adults accounted for 40 percent of all fire 

deaths and 15 percent of estimated fire injuries in 2015.

As baby boomers enter retirement age, the demographic profile of the U.S. is expected to 

change dramatically. Over the coming decades, the older population will increase, and a 

corresponding increase in fire deaths and injuries among older adults is likely.

In the past, children ages 4 and younger were also considered to be at a high risk of 

death from fire; however, data indicate that the trend is changing. In 2015, the relative 

risk of children ages 4 and younger dying in a fire was 30 percent less than that of the 

general population.

Conclusions

This report shows that, overall, the fire problem in the U.S. continues to improve. 

Currently, the 10-year fire-loss rates are down. It is likely that several factors continue to 

contribute to these trends:

ĵ Smoke alarms, which have become nearly universal — The USFA continues to partner 

with other government agencies and fire service entities to improve and develop new 

smoke alarm technologies.

ĵ Sprinklers, which quickly combat incipient fires, especially in nonresidential and 

multifamily buildings — There are major movements in the U.S. fire service to require or 

facilitate use of sprinklers in all new homes, which could improve the use of residential 

sprinklers in the future.

ĵ Fire codes, which have been strengthened.

ĵ Construction techniques and materials, which have been developed specifically for 

fire prevention.

ĵ Public education at the community, county, state and federal levels.

ĵ Improved firefighter equipment and training.

Even considering these positive trends, the U.S. still has a major fire problem compared 

with some other industrialized nations. The study and implementation of these nations’ 

fire prevention programs that have proved effective in reducing the number of fires and 

deaths should be considered.

Other areas that continue to be of concern:

ĵ The elderly remain at high risk of death from fire.

ĵ The focus for fire injury prevention should be on adults ages 25 to 64 and those 85 

and older.

ĵ African-Americans and American Indians/Alaskan Natives remain at a higher risk of 

death from fire than the general population.
6 Fire in the United States 2006-2015

ĵ Outside/Wildland fires.

ĵ Data challenges still exist. Many records submitted to the NFIRS by participating 

fire departments provide either incomplete or no information in some of the fields. 

Additionally, in preparing this report, it is assumed that participating fire departments 

have reported 100 percent of their fire incidents; however, this is not always the case. 

The completeness of all the information in the NFIRS modules will contribute to the 

refinement and confidence level of future analyses.

With continued enhancements to the NFIRS, data collection continues to improve. If we 

better understand the relative importance of the factors that lessen the fire problem, 

resources can be better targeted to have the most impact.

Prevention and other resources

The USFA develops and delivers fire prevention and safety education programs in partnership 

with other federal agencies, the fire and emergency response community, the media, and 

safety interest groups. The USFA also works with public and private groups to promote and 

improve fire prevention and life safety through research, testing and evaluation.

ĵ The USFA’s outreach materials and educational programs are available at https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/prevention.

ĵ Smoke alarm information on technologies, performance, disposal and storage, 

training bulletins, and public education and outreach materials is available at https://

www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/technology/smoke_fire_alarms.html. The USFA’s 

position statement on smoke alarms is available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/about/

smoke_alarms_position.html.

ĵ Residential sprinkler information on costs and benefits, performance, training 

bulletins, and public education and outreach materials is available at https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/prevention/technology/home_fire_sprinklers.html. The USFA’s position 

statement on residential sprinklers is also available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/

about/sprinklers_position.html.

ĵ The USFA sponsors research and conducts studies to support emergency responder 

health and safety and help fire departments prepare for and respond to fire, natural 

disasters, nonfire emergencies, and other threats and vulnerabilities. Information on 

fire department operations, management and safety is available at https://www.usfa.

fema.gov/operations.

To comment on this specific report, visit https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/contact/dataReportEval? 

reportTitle=Fire%20in%20the%20United%20States%20(2006-2015).
Introduction 7

Fire in the United States 2006-2015

19th Edition

Introduction

In 1973, the president’s Commission on Fire Prevention and Control published “America 

Burning.” This document was the first in-depth discussion of this country’s fire problem — 

the most severe of the industrialized nations. The report prompted a national awareness 

about the depth of the fire problem and the need for prevention efforts. By 1987, when 

a second commission was assembled, much progress had been made toward addressing 

the nation’s fire problem. Among other objectives, “America Burning Revisited” redefined 

the strategies needed to further reduce loss of life and property to fire. As a direct result 

of these efforts and others like them, the U.S.’s fire problem no longer ranks as the 

most severe of the industrialized nations. Nonetheless, the U.S. continues to experience 

fire death rates 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than those of most of its sister nations.9 Many 

Americans are not aware of this nor the nature of the fire problem.

This report is a statistical portrait of fire in the U.S. It is intended for use by a wide 

audience, including the fire service, the media, researchers, industry, government agencies 

and interested citizens. The report focuses on the national fire problem. Emphasized 

topics include the magnitude and trends of the fire problem, the causes of fires, where 

they occur, and who gets hurt.

This document is the 19th major edition of “Fire in the United States” published by the 

USFA. It covers the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, with a primary focus on 2015. The 

previous editions have included:

ĵ First edition, published in 1978, included 1975 and 1976 fire data.

ĵ Second edition, published in 1982, included 1977 and 1978 fire data.

ĵ Third through fifth editions produced as working papers, but not published.

ĵ Sixth edition, published in 1987, included 1983 fire data.

ĵ Seventh edition, published in 1990, included 1983 to 1987 fire data.

ĵ Eighth edition, published in 1993, included 1983 to 1990 fire data.

ĵ Ninth edition, published in 1997, included 1985 to 1994 fire data, and it focused on the 

residential/nonresidential fire problem, as well as firefighter casualties.

ĵ Tenth edition, published in 1998, included 1986 to 1995 fire data, and it provided a 

state-by-state profile of fires and an examination of firefighter casualties.

ĵ Eleventh edition, published in 1999, included 1987 to 1996 fire data, and it focused on 

the residential/nonresidential fire problem, as well as firefighter casualties.

9The Geneva Association, “World Fire Statistics,” Bulletin, Number 29, April 2014, https://www.

genevaassociation.org/sites/default/files/research-topics-document-type/pdf_public//ga2014-wfs29.pdf. 

As reported, the U.S. had a fire death rate of 1.11 fire deaths per 100,000 population for 2008 to 2010; the 

Netherlands had the lowest comparable European fire death rate at 0.46 per 100,000 population. Switzerland’s 

fire death rate was lower still at 0.34, but it excluded firefighter deaths.
8 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

ĵ Twelfth edition, published in 2001, included 1989 to 1998 fire data and was the last 

edition to use the NFIRS 4.1 data system. It included analyses of all of the previous 

topics under one cover: residential and nonresidential fire problems, state-by-state 

profiles, and firefighter casualties.

ĵ Thirteenth edition, published in 2004, included 1992 to 2001 fire data and was the first 

edition to include the new NFIRS 5.0 data in the analyses. It included the residential 

and nonresidential fire problem, as well as firefighter casualties.

ĵ Fourteenth edition, published in 2007, included 1995 to 2004 fire data, with a primary 

focus on 2004. For the first time, only native NFIRS 5.0 data was used for NFIRS-based 

analyses. It addressed the overall national fire problem and provided detailed analyses 

of the residential and nonresidential fire problem. Firefighter casualties and other 

subsets of the national fire problem were not included.

ĵ Fifteenth edition, published in 2009, covered the five-year period of 2003 to 2007, 

with a primary focus on 2007. As in the 14th edition, only native NFIRS 5.0 data was 

used for NFIRS-based analyses.10 This report addressed only the overall national fire 

problem. Detailed analyses of the residential and nonresidential fire problem, firefighter 

casualties, and other subsets of the national fire problem were addressed as separate, 

stand-alone publications.

ĵ Sixteenth edition, published in 2013, was entirely web-based and covered the five-year 

period of 2007 to 2011, with a primary focus on 2011. The document was renamed “Data 

Sources and Methodology Documentation,” with all of the data presented in an Excel file.

ĵ Seventeenth edition, published in 2016, covered the 10-year period of 2004 to 2013, 

with a primary focus on 2013. This report addressed the overall national fire problem 

and was published as a PDF document.

ĵ Eighteenth edition, published in 2017, covered the 10-year period of 2005 to 2014, with 

a primary focus on 2014. This report addressed the overall national fire problem and 

was published as a PDF document.

Data sources

The USFA’s data analyses are based primarily on the NFIRS data, but use other sources 

as well. Summary estimates for fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss are from the NFPA’s 

annual survey of fire departments.11 Other data sources used by the USFA include 

2015 NCHS mortality data12 as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics 

jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program, resident population 

10Previous editions of “Fire in the United States” presented 10-year trends. As many of the trends are based on 

national estimates that use the proportion of native NFIRS 5.0 data to allocate estimated fires and fire losses, 

trends in this edition are limited to 2003 and the years after when the proportion of native NFIRS 5.0 data 

exceeded 80 percent of the submitted data.

11The NFPA summary estimates are used for the overall U.S. fire losses; for fire losses from vehicle, outside and 

other fires; and as the basis for estimates of residential and nonresidential building fires. The alternative approach 

for these summary estimates is to use the relative percentage of fires (or other loss measures) from the NFIRS 

and scale up (multiply by) to the NFPA estimate of total fires. The results would be somewhat different from 

those based on the NFPA subtotals. These differences are discussed in the section “Differences Between National 

Fire Incident Reporting System Data and National Fire Protection Association Survey Data.” Better estimates of 

fire loss measures will not be available from the NFIRS until a more robust method of estimation is developed.

12The NCHS data provides additional details not available from the NFPA survey: state of fire death occurrence, 

age, gender and race.
Data Sources 9

estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, inflation adjustments from the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics’ CPI, and state statistics from state fire marshals’ offices or their equivalents. 

Because the NCHS mortality data is based on a census or enumeration of deaths based 

on death certificates rather than an estimate, it is used as the primary source for the 

computation of fire death rates and relative risk. The most current year available for the 

NCHS mortality data is 2015. Please note that for consistency, national trend data is based 

on the NFPA survey estimates, not the NCHS mortality data.

The USFA gratefully acknowledges the use of the data and information provided by these 

groups. Data sources are cited for each graph and table.

National Fire Incident Reporting System

The NFIRS was established in 1975 as one of the first programs of the National Fire 

Prevention and Control Administration, which later became the USFA. The basic concept of 

the NFIRS has not changed since the system’s inception. All states and all fire departments 

within them have been invited to participate on a voluntary basis. Participating fire 

departments collect a common core of information on an incident and any casualties 

that ensue by using a common set of definitions. In very few departments, the data 

may be written by hand on paper forms; however, the majority of the data are collected 

electronically through third-party software, the NFIRS Data Entry Tool (DET) or the Data 

Entry Browser Interface (DEBI), or the reporting department’s own system. Local agencies 

forward the completed NFIRS modules to the state agency responsible for NFIRS data. 

The state agency combines the information with data from other fire departments into 

a statewide database and then transmits the data to the NFDC at the USFA. Data on 

individual incidents and casualties are preserved incident by incident at local, state and 

national levels. Once limited to fire incidents only, the NFIRS encompasses all incidents to 

which the fire department responds: fire, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), hazardous 

materials or hazmat, and the like.

From an initial six states in 1976, the NFIRS has grown in both participation and use. 

Over the life of the system, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 40 

major metropolitan areas have reported to the NFIRS. More than 30,000 fire departments 

have been assigned participating NFIRS fire department identification (FDID) numbers 

by their states. Nearly 1 million fire incident records and over 22 million nonfire incident 

records are added to the database each year. The NFIRS is the world’s largest collection 

of incidents to which fire departments respond.13

Figure 1 shows the growth in the number of fire departments participating in the 

NFIRS over the last 36 years from 1980 to 2015.14 Between 1985 and 1999, the level of 

participation remained relatively constant: A few states came in or left the system each 

year, and at least 39 states reported to the NFIRS. Most years also included participation 

from the District of Columbia. The number of fire departments participating within the 

states remained relatively constant as well, with a slight dip in participation during the 

system migration from Version 4.1 to 5.0 in 1999. In 2000, the number of states increased 

to 43, and fire department participation began to bounce back from the Version 5.0 

transition. State and fire department participation began steadily increasing. In 2003, 

13USFA, “About the National Fire Incident Reporting System,” https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/nfirs/about/

index.html. 14Figure 1 reflects fire departments that reported fire incidents (includes mutual aid and automatic aid given); 

all other types of incidents were excluded from this figure.
10 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

the NFIRS reached a milestone with participation by all 50 states. The following year, the 

NFIRS achieved another significant goal: NFIRS not only achieved the national goal of 100 

percent state participation, including the District of Columbia, but also for the first time, 

the Native American tribal authorities submitted data.

NFIRS continued to grow and mature. By 2007, a new level of participation had been 

achieved: all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Native American tribal authorities, 

Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico all participated in the NFIRS for a total of 54 

state, district, tribal authority, and commonwealth entities (Table 2). However, the Northern 

Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico are no longer reporting incident data to the NFIRS.

From 2009 to 2015, the level of participation remained relatively constant and data was 

submitted by the District of Columbia, the Native American tribal authorities, and all 50 

states.15 In 2015, the most recent year of data available, 21,143 fire departments reported 

fire incidents to the NFIRS. Across participating entities, 71 percent of the estimated fire 

departments in the U.S. reported fire incidents to the NFIRS in 2015.16 With over two-thirds 

of all fire departments nationwide reporting fire incidents to the NFIRS 5.0, the reporting 

departments represent a very large dataset that enables the USFA to make reasonable 

estimates of various facets of the fire problem. Although some states do require their 

departments to participate in the state system, participation in the NFIRS is voluntary. 

However, if a fire department is a recipient of an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), 

participation is required.17

15For 2013, Wyoming data was not included on the NFIRS Public Data Release (PDR) file, as the data was 

submitted by the state past the cutoff date set by the USFA’s NFDC; however, the data resides in the NFIRS 

production database and Enterprise Data Warehouse.

16For 2015, the NFPA estimated that there were 29,727 fire departments in the U.S. Source: NFPA, U.S. Fire 

Department Profile 2015, April 2017, http://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/

Fire-statistics/The-fire-service/Administration/US-fire-department-profile. 17From fiscal year (FY) 2015 AFG Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) — while NFIRS reporting is strongly 

encouraged, NFIRS reporting is not a requirement to apply for, or be awarded, a grant within the AFG Program. 

However, fire departments that receive funding under this program must agree to provide information to the 

NFIRS for the period covered by the assistance. If a recipient does not currently participate in NFIRS and does 

not have the capacity to report at the time of the award, that recipient must agree to provide information to 

the system for a 12-month period commencing ASAP after it develops the capacity to report. Capacity to report 

to the NFIRS must be established prior to the termination of the one-year performance period. In order to be 

compliant and close out the grant, the grantee may be asked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to provide proof of compliance in reporting to the NFIRS. Any grantee that stops reporting to the NFIRS during 

the grant’s period of performance is subject to having the award(s) modified or withdrawn. See the FY 2015 AFG 

NOFO at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1448980691064-3761c274d7e1993ad2d220aa8c4e4373/

FY15_AFG_NOFO_11_30_15.pdf.
Data Sources 11

Figure 1. National Fire Incident Reporting System fire department participation 

(1980-2015, fire incidents only) Number of participating fire departments

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015

Source: NFIRS.

Notes: 1. 1999 to 2008 includes participation from NFIRS 4.1 and NFIRS 5.0; 2009 and later only includes participation from 

NFIRS 5.0.

	 2. Includes fire departments that reported only mutual and automatic aid given at fire incidents.

Table 2. States reporting fire incidents to the National Fire Incident Reporting 

System (2006-2015)

State 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Alabama X X X X X X X X X X

Alaska X X X X X X X X X X

Arizona X X X X X X X X X X

Arkansas X X X X X X X X X X

California X X X X X X X X X X

Colorado X X X X X X X X X X

Connecticut X X X X X X X X X X

Delaware X X X X X X X X X X

District of 

Columbia X X X X X X X X

Florida X X X X X X X X X X

Georgia X X X X X X X X X X

Hawaii X X X X X X X X X X

Idaho X X X X X X X X X X

Illinois X X X X X X X X X X

Indiana X X X X X X X X X X

Iowa X X X X X X X X X X

Kansas X X X X X X X X X X

Kentucky X X X X X X X X X X

Louisiana X X X X X X X X X X

Maine X X X X X X X X X X

Maryland X X X X X X X X X X

Massachusetts X X X X X X X X X X
12 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Table 2. States reporting fire incidents to the National Fire Incident Reporting 

System (2006-2015) — continued

State 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Michigan X X X X X X X X X X

Minnesota X X X X X X X X X X

Mississippi X X X X X X X X X X

Missouri X X X X X X X X X X

Montana X X X X X X X X X X

Nebraska X X X X X X X X X X

Nevada X X X X X X X X X X

New 

Hampshire X X X X X X X X X X

New Jersey X X X X X X X X X X

New Mexico X X X X X X X X X X

New York X X X X X X X X X X

North Carolina X X X X X X X X X X

North Dakota X X X X X X X X X X

Ohio X X X X X X X X X X

Oklahoma X X X X X X X X X X

Oregon X X X X X X X X X X

Pennsylvania X X X X X X X X X X

Rhode Island X X X X X X X X X X

South Carolina X X X X X X X X X X

South Dakota X X X X X X X X X X

Tennessee X X X X X X X X X X

Texas X X X X X X X X X X

Utah X X X X X X X X X X

Vermont X X X X X X X X X X

Virginia X X X X X X X X X X

Washington X X X X X X X X X X

West Virginia X X X X X X X X X X

Wisconsin X X X X X X X X X X

Wyoming X X X X X X X X X X

Native 

American X X X X X X X X X X

Northern 

Mariana 

Islands

X X

Puerto Rico X X * *

Total 53 54 51 52 52 52 52 52 52 52

Source: NFIRS.

Notes:	 For 2005 to 2008, includes fire incidents submitted in both NFIRS Versions 4.1 and 5.0. Beginning in 2009, includes only

fire incidents submitted in NFIRS Version 5.0.

*

Puerto Rico submitted fire incident data to the NFIRS in 2008 to 2009, but the data was excluded from all fire data analyses due

to data quality issues.
Data Sources 13

Table 3. Fire departments reporting fire incidents to the National Fire Incident 

Reporting System in 2015

State

No. of fire 

departments 

in state

No. of reporting 

fire departments 

(NFIRS 5.0)

Percentage of 

reporting fire 

departments 

(NFIRS 5.0)

Alabama 1,100 341 31

Alaska 235 142 60

Arizona 197 101 51

Arkansas 976 731 75

California 1,038 475 46

Colorado 385 232 60

Connecticut 259 231 89

Delaware 61 59 97

District of Columbia 1 1 100

Florida 568 400 70

Georgia 608 403 66

Hawaii 6 4 67

Idaho 243 166 68

Illinois 1,127 1,006 89

Indiana 861 478 56

Iowa 848 536 63

Kansas 631 452 72

Kentucky 805 582 72

Louisiana 553 388 70

Maine 498 195 39

Maryland 362 263 73

Massachusetts 366 339 93

Michigan 1,074 783 73

Minnesota 778 714 92

Mississippi 757 607 80

Missouri 930 430 46

Montana 433 164 38

Nebraska 471 200 42

Nevada 78 44 56

New Hampshire 228 203 89

New Jersey 719 619 86

New Mexico 367 320 87

New York 1,786 1,057 59

North Carolina 1,243 1,114 90

North Dakota 375 167 45
14 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Table 3. Fire departments reporting fire incidents to the National Fire Incident 

Reporting System in 2015 — Continued

State

No. of fire 

departments 

in state

No. of reporting 

fire departments 

(NFIRS 5.0)

Percentage of 

reporting fire 

departments 

(NFIRS 5.0)

Ohio 1,192 1,168 98

Oklahoma 930 349 38

Oregon 314 250 80

Pennsylvania 2,300 1,027 45

Rhode Island 70 38 54

South Carolina 471 400 85

South Dakota 337 214 64

Tennessee 696 565 81

Texas 2,022 918 45

Utah 263 130 49

Vermont 233 163 70

Virginia 668 455 68

Washington 595 277 47

West Virginia 439 424 97

Wisconsin 821 749 91

Wyoming 133 64 48

Native American 48 5 10

Total 32,499* 21,143 65

Sources:	 The NFIRS (2015) and state fire marshal’s offices or equivalent organizations (October 2016).

Note:	 Additionally, there are 701 Department of Defense fire departments in the U.S. These departments are not included in

the totals here and do not report their fire incident data to the NFIRS.

*

This total differs from the 2015 NFPA estimate of 29,727 fire departments. The NFPA estimate is the official estimate used by the

USFA as its benchmark for the National Fire Department Registry.

Corresponding to increased participation, the numbers of fires, deaths and injuries, as well 

as estimates of dollar loss reported to the NFIRS have also grown. An estimated 66 percent 

of all U.S. fires to which fire departments responded in 2015 were captured in the NFIRS.18

There are, of course, many problems in assembling a real-world database, and the NFIRS 

is no exception. Although the NFIRS does not represent 100 percent of incidents reported 

to fire departments each year, the enormous dataset and strong efforts by the fire 

service result in a huge amount of useful information. Because of advances in computer 

technology and data collection techniques over the past 40 years, and improvements 

suggested by participants, the NFIRS has been revised periodically. The latest revision, 

NFIRS 5.0, became operational in January 1999.

NFIRS 5.0 captures information on all incidents, not just fires, to which a fire department 

responds. NFIRS 5.0 provides 11 modules that recognize the increasingly diverse activities 

of fire departments today. Together, these modules contain 567 data elements or fields.

18This percentage excludes mutual-aid fire incidents to avoid counting the same fire more than once.
Data Sources 15

The Basic Module is the main module, which is completed for every incident. The other 

modules are filled out, when appropriate, to provide additional information on an incident. 

All 11 modules are listed below:

Module Description

Basic Module General information for each incident

Fire Module Fire incident information

Structure Fire Module Information on structure fires

Civilian Fire Casualty Module Fire-related injuries or deaths to civilians

Fire Service Casualty Module Injuries or deaths to firefighters

EMS Module Medical incidents

Hazardous Materials Module Hazardous materials incidents

Wildland Fire Module Wildland or vegetation fires

Apparatus/Resources Module Apparatus-specific information

Personnel Module Personnel associated with apparatus

Arson Module Intentionally-set fire information

Data from the modules are grouped together each calendar year to create the Public Data 

Release (PDR) files in delimited text (.txt) format, which are then released annually into 

the public domain. For NFIRS data submitted prior to 2012, the PDR files were released in 

dBASE (.dbf) format. The Apparatus/Resources and Personnel Modules are excluded from 

the PDR because they are intended for local fire department use, and the PDR dataset’s 

main utility is intended for national analyses. The PDR files consist of a subset of the 

data fields contained within the NFIRS national production database. For example, data 

elements with sensitive or identifying information are removed, as are data elements that 

are wholly used for maintenance or production purposes. The data structure of the PDR 

files has been considerably simplified from the production database’s schema for ease 

of use. The PDR files from 2004 to 2013 only include fire and hazmat incidents and their 

related data tables (available on CD). Prior to 2004, all incidents were included in the PDR 

files. Beginning with the 2014 NFIRS data, both the fire and hazmat incident PDR file (CD) 

and the full, all-incident PDR file (DVD) are available upon request from the USFA’s NFDC.

In its basic form, the NFIRS PDR files have a relational data structure where data from 

each incident module is represented by a row in a data table. The primary tables (basic 

incident and incident address) contain most of the Basic Module data. There is exactly 

one record in the basic incident table for every incident reported to the NFIRS. All other 

modules, represented by data tables with similar names (fire incident, civilian casualties, 

etc.), have records that are linked to the basic incident table through unique incident 

identification key fields (e.g., STATE, FDID, INC_DATE, INC_NO and EXP_NO). Some module 

data are split across several tables (e.g., basic incident, incident address, and basic aid 

tables); one table (fire incident) combines data from two modules (i.e., Fire Module and 

Structure Fire Module). Some tables, such as fire incident, will only have one record for 

each relevant incident in the basic incident table, while tables such as civilian casualty may 

have several records linked to a single incident in the case where multiple injuries and/or 

deaths occur in the same incident.

State participation is voluntary, and each state specifies NFIRS reporting requirements for 

its fire departments. States have the flexibility to adapt their state reporting systems to 
16 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

their specific needs. As a result, the design of a state’s data collection system varies from 

state to state. NFIRS 5.0 was designed so that data from state systems can be converted 

to a single format that is used at the national level to aggregate and store NFIRS data.

All data in the system, regardless of the entry mechanism, are in NFIRS 5.0 format; non-NFIRS 

5.0 data are converted to the 5.0 format. The proportion of native 5.0 data steadily increased 

since the introduction of NFIRS 5.0 in 1999 (Table 4). This proportion rose to 99 percent 

in the 2008 data. Since Jan. 1, 2009, NFIRS 4.1 data have no longer been accepted by the 

system. Prior to 2009, NFIRS 4.1 data in its converted form had been accepted by the system; 

however, the USFA only used native 5.0 data in its NFIRS-based analyses.

Table 4. National Fire Incident Reporting System fire incident data reporting by 

version (percent)

Year Percent of NFIRS 4.1

(converted to 5.0 format)

Percent of Native 

NFIRS 5.0

1999 92 8

2000 77 23

2001 48 52

2002 31 69

2003 19 81

2004 11 89

2005 5 95

2006 5 95

2007 2 98

2008 1 99

2009 0 100

Source: NFIRS.

National Fire Incident Reporting System enhancements

Under the USFA Reauthorization Act of 2008, the U.S. Congress authorized and funded 

the USFA to develop enhancements to the NFIRS. The upgrades to the system began in 

October 2008 and included a simplified NFIRS web-based reporting interface and a data 

warehouse for generating output reports for use in analyses. These improvements make 

reporting and accessing the NFIRS data much easier for fire departments.

In July 2010, the USFA completed and deployed the new web-based DET. The DEBI is a 

one-purpose tool for use by the fire service to document incident information within the 

NFIRS. While the functionality is the same as the NFIRS client DET that has been available 

for use for many years, the DEBI allows entry of incidents using a standard web browser, 

eliminating the need to download, install and configure client software.

The development of a flexible NFIRS data warehouse with comprehensive data-mining 

capabilities was completed in July 2011 and is currently being deployed to NFIRS state 

and fire department users on request. The data warehouse allows NFIRS users to access 

and report on nationally collected data with significantly increased functionality over the 

current report generation tool. The data have been transformed into a custom schema 
Data Sources 17

that greatly increases the speed of report generation and data access. NFIRS users will 

be able to generate reports using data from other departments and states, which was 

not previously possible.

National Fire Incident Reporting System training and resources

The USFA offers several free classroom and online NFIRS training courses for fire 

departments, including the “Introduction to NFIRS 5.0” (W0497) course, the “National 

Fire Incident Reporting System 5.0 Self-Study” (Q0494) course, the “National Fire 

Incident Reporting System: Program Management” (NFIRS: PM) (R0491) course, and the 

“NFIRS Program Management--Data Analysis and Problem-Solving Techniques” (NFIRS 

PM--DAPST) (W0495) course. The Intro to the NFIRS 5.0 course teaches students how to 

use standardized forms to achieve uniformity in their incident and activity reporting. This 

training program is designed specifically to support local fire service organizations, and 

it will assist them in providing data to their management and to decision-makers, as well 

as to their state uniform fire reporting system. The NFIRS 5.0 Self-Study (online) course 

provides an overview of the data collection system, its modules, and data conversion 

issues. The NFIRS: PM course enables participants to successfully promote, support and 

manage NFIRS data collection. The NFIRS PM--DAPST course is designed for experienced 

NFIRS users who need enhanced fire incident analysis and reporting skills. For more 

information on NFIRS training courses, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/nfirs/

support/training.html.

Periodically, the USFA issues NFIRSGrams, which are short bulletins that provide coding 

help to fire department personnel who use the NFIRS. NFIRSGrams address frequently 

asked questions (FAQs) and common mistakes made when completing incident forms. 

Examples include “Documenting casualties on an NFIRS report,” “Coding an electronic 

cigarette fire,” “Calculating fire loss,” “Documenting confined structure fires,” and “The 

difference between reported fire incident data and estimated fire incident data.” In 

addition to NFIRSGrams, the “NFIRS 5.0 Coding Questions Manual” includes instructions 

on how to code NFIRS 5.0 incident reports in a question-and-answer format. NFIRSGrams 

and the “NFIRS 5.0 Coding Questions Manual” are available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/

data/nfirs/support/training.html.

Furthermore, the USFA’s NFIRS Support Center offers a consolidated national help desk 

to provide technical support to fire departments and NFIRS state program managers 

regarding all aspects of the NFIRS. Support Center staff may be reached by email at 

FEMA-NFIRSHELP@fema.dhs.gov or by calling toll free at 888-382-3827. Questions about 

or requests for NFIRS technical assistance can also be submitted online at https://apps.

usfa.fema.gov/contact/ntsc/.

Uses of the National Fire Incident Reporting System

NFIRS data is used extensively at all levels of government for major fire protection 

decisions. At the local level, incident and casualty information is used for setting priorities 

and targeting resources. The data collected is particularly useful for designing fire 

prevention programs, educational programs and EMS-related activities specifically suited 

to the real emergency problems that local communities face.

At the state level, the NFIRS is used in many capacities. One valuable contribution is 

that some state legislatures use this data to justify budgets and to pass important bills 

on fire-related issues, such as sprinklers, fireworks and arson. Many federal agencies, 
18 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

in addition to the USFA, make use of NFIRS data. NFIRS data is used, for example, by 

the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to identify problem products and to 

monitor corrective actions. The Department of Transportation uses NFIRS data to identify 

fire problems in automobiles, which has resulted in mandated recalls. The Department 

of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses NFIRS data to evaluate the safety of 

manufactured housing (mobile homes). The USFA uses the data to design prevention 

programs, to prioritize firefighter safety initiatives, to assist in the development of training 

courses at the National Fire Academy, and to serve a host of other purposes.

In addition to government agencies, NFIRS data is also used for research and prevention 

programs by a variety of other entities, including nonprofit fire-related organizations, colleges 

and universities, courts and law firms, and the media. For example, since October 2014, the 

American Red Cross (ARC) is linking NFIRS residential fire data to information gathered from 

their disaster response teams to identify neighborhoods that have a high fire risk, and then 

installing smoke alarms in homes within these communities as part of the nationwide Home 

Fire Campaign. By August 2016, the ARC and its partners had saved at least 102 lives as part 

of this campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries.19

Thousands of fire departments, scores of states, and hundreds of industries have used 

the data. The potential for even greater use remains. The USFA report, “Uses of NFIRS: The 

Many Uses of the National Fire Incident Reporting System,” further describes the uses of 

the data and is available online at https://usfa.kohalibrary.com/app/work/159371.

U.S. fire departments

The number of fire departments in each state (Table 3) was provided by each state’s NFIRS 

program manager. The USFA also maintains a database of fire departments. The USFA 

established the National Fire Department Census and its subsequent database in the fall 

of 2001 when the USFA launched a nationwide campaign for voluntary registration of fire 

departments.

From 2001 to 2016, the number of registered fire departments grew from about 16,000 

to over 27,000. Because the census was cumulative over time, it did not reflect a typical 

census in the way that the data were collected.20 As a result, in the fall of 2016, the USFA 

renamed the census to the National Fire Department Registry. As of January 2017, there 

were 27,192 registered fire departments, about 91 percent of the estimated number of 

U.S. fire departments.21 The NFPA estimated that there were 29,727 fire departments in 

the U.S. in 2015.

The database provides a current directory of registered fire departments and includes 

basic information, such as addresses, department types, website addresses (if applicable), 

number of fire department personnel, and number of stations. Population-protected and 

area-protected data are also collected. However, in previous analyses of the populationprotected field, it was determined that the registered fire departments reported protecting 

a population two times that of the U.S. population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

19The ARC, “Red Cross and Partners Save 102 Lives Across the U.S. Through Home Fire Campaign,” Aug. 3, 2016, 

is available at http://www.redcross.org/news/article/American-Red-Cross-and-Partners-Save-102-Lives-Acrossthe-Country-Through-Home-Fire-Campaign.

20A census is an official count or a complete enumeration of a population. 21USFA, National Fire Department Registry Summary, 2017, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/registry_

summary_2017.pdf.
Methodology 19

Similar results were seen for the area protected. The National Fire Department Registry 

also collects information on specialized services that is released only in summary format. 

The database is intended for use by the fire protection and prevention communities, allied 

professions, the general public, and the USFA. The USFA uses the database to conduct 

special studies, guide program decision-making, and improve direct communication with 

individual fire departments. For more information about the National Fire Department 

Registry, or to download the list of registered fire departments, visit https://apps.usfa.fema.

gov/registry/.

Methodology

An attempt has been made to keep the data presentation and analysis as straightforward 

as possible. It is also the desire of the USFA to make the data analyses widely accessible 

to many different users, so it avoids unnecessarily complex methodology. The term fire 

casualties refers to deaths and injuries; the term fire losses collectively includes fire 

casualties and dollar loss.

Analytic issues and considerations

There are several long-standing issues regarding how to analyze NFIRS data when it is 

neither as complete nor as accurate as desired. Other analytic issues are the result of 

changes in definitions and data collection procedures from NFIRS 4.1 to NFIRS 5.0. The 

sections that follow discuss how the analyses address these and other issues.

Moreover, the USFA developed the “National Fire Incident Reporting System Version 5.0 

Fire Data Analysis Guidelines and Issues” document to address some of these issues and 

discuss analytic considerations and methods of analyzing NFIRS fire incident data.22 Topics 

include the NFIRS 5.0 data structure, general quality assurance issues, and definitions and 

parameters of common fire analyses (e.g., residential building fires or casualties), including 

the methodology for determining structure fire causes. The methods, techniques and 

considerations discussed are those used by USFA analysts, and they do not necessarily 

reflect methods, techniques and considerations used by fire data analysts from other 

agencies and organizations. NFIRS data partners may (and do) employ their own methods 

for analyzing the data and may make differing assumptions when encountering data issues.

Representativeness of the sample

The percentage of fire departments participating in the NFIRS varies from state to state, 

with some states not participating at all in some years. To the best that the USFA can 

determine, the distribution of participants is reasonably representative of the entire 

nation, even though the sample is not random. The dataset is so large — on average 

about 67 percent of all fires — and reasonably distributed geographically and by size of 

community that it is used as input to developing national estimates.

In a joint study effort, the USFA and the NFPA examined the biases in NFIRS participation, 

specifically whether the fire experience of NFIRS-reporting departments differed 

systematically from the fire experience of other nonreporting departments within the 

same population. Results based on data from 1997 and 2002 indicated that there were 

22The “National Fire Incident Reporting System Version 5.0 Fire Data Analysis Guidelines and Issues,” July 2011, 

is available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/nfirs/nfirs_data_analysis_guidelines_issues.pdf.
20 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

differences in total fire loss estimates derived from the NFIRS reporting departments 

and non-NFIRS reporting departments; however, the degree of difference was not great 

enough to merit adjusting current scaling methodologies. Thus, the USFA and fire data 

analysts from other organizations continue to use the long-standing methodology of 

scaling NFIRS estimates with NFPA total fire estimates.

In the fall of 2008, as required by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the 

USFA undertook a study of the NFIRS dataset to examine the potential bias in the NFIRS 

due to fire department non-response. As a result, the USFA completed an analysis to 

identify fire departments that do not participate in the NFIRS, characteristics of these 

departments, and whether their non-response impacted the representativeness of the 

NFIRS. Undertaken on a regional and county basis, the analysis provided insight into what, 

if any, adjustments could be made to minimize the impact of possible reporting bias on 

the fire loss estimates. States of particular concern for nonreporting were located in the 

Northeastern and Western regions of the country, where the average rates of reporting 

were approximately 72 percent for each of these regions. By contrast, the Midwestern 

region had an estimated 87 percent reporting rate.

In 2011, the USFA also completed a second NFIRS representativeness study as required 

by the OMB. For this study, the USFA compared the NFIRS database to NFPA proprietary 

data to determine the percentage of departments responding to the NFPA survey that also 

reported fires to the NFIRS. It was determined that 87 percent of the 2009 NFPA survey 

respondents also reported fire incidents to the NFIRS from 2007 to 2009. In 2009 alone, 

more than 18,000 additional departments (i.e., in addition to those responding to the NFPA 

survey) reported fires to the NFIRS.

It is important to note that the USFA, along with other federal agencies, does not use NFIRS 

data to derive state-level fire estimates. NFIRS data is used to show the fire problem at the 

national level. Because the findings in the USFA’s NFIRS representativeness studies show 

high reporting rates, fire departments across the country appear to be well-represented 

in the NFIRS.

Moreover, most of the NFIRS data exhibit stability from one year to the next, without 

radical changes. Results based on the full dataset are generally similar to those based on 

part of the data, another indication of data reliability. Although improvements could be 

made — the individual incident reports could and should be filled out more completely 

and more accurately than they are today (as can be said about most real-world data 

collections as large as the NFIRS), and all participating departments should have the same 

reporting requirements — the overall portrayal is a reasonably accurate description of 

the fire situation in the U.S.

National estimates

National estimates are estimates of the number of fire losses (i.e., fires, deaths, injuries 

and dollar loss) associated with a subset of the fire data.23 High-level summarized national 

estimates of the numbers for fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss are based on the 

NFPA’s annual Survey of Fire Departments for U.S. Fire Experience.24 With the exception 

23An estimate is an approximation of a count or total.

24For information on the NFPA’s survey methodology, please see the NFPA’s report on fire loss in the U.S.: 

http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/fire-statistics-and-reports/fire-statistics/fires-in-the-us/overall-fireproblem/fire-loss-in-the-united-states.
Methodology 21

of the NFPA estimates for total fires, structure fires (i.e., residential and nonresidential), 

vehicle, outside and other fires, all other estimates are scaled-up national estimates 

or percentages, not just the raw totals from the NFIRS. Because NFIRS 5.0 data is not 

based on a statistically selected sample and does not represent a “complete” census of 

fire incidents, the raw counts of NFIRS data must be scaled up to national estimates.25

These estimates are based on a method of apportioning the NFPA estimates for total 

fires, structure fires, vehicle, outside and other fires.26 Generally speaking, the national 

estimates are derived by computing a percentage of fires, deaths, injuries or dollar loss 

in a particular NFIRS category and multiplying it by the corresponding total estimate from 

the NFPA annual survey.27 For example, the national estimate for the number of injuries 

by age group used in the calculation for the fire injury rate per million population was 

computed by taking the percentage of NFIRS fire injuries (with known age) and multiplying 

it by the estimated total number of fire injuries from the NFPA survey. This methodology 

is the accepted practice of national fire data analysts.

Ideally, one would like to have all of the data come from one consistent data source. 

Because the “residential population protected” is not reported to the NFIRS by many 

fire departments, and the reliability of that data element is suspect in many other cases, 

especially where a county or other jurisdiction is served by several fire departments that 

each report their population protected independently, this data element was not used. 

Instead, extrapolations of the NFIRS sample to national estimates were made using the 

NFPA survey for the gross totals of fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss.

One problem with this approach is that the proportions of fires and fire losses differ 

between the large NFIRS sample and the NFPA survey sample. Nonetheless, to be 

consistent with approaches being used by other fire data analysts, the NFPA estimates 

of fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss are used as a starting point. The details of the 

fire problem below this level are based on proportions from the NFIRS. Because the 

proportions of fires and fire losses differ between the NFIRS and the NFPA estimates, 

from time to time, this approach leads to minor inconsistencies. These inconsistencies 

will remain until all estimates can be derived from NFIRS data alone.

Data quality

Data quality is an area of great importance. The following three criteria are used in 

monitoring data in the NFIRS during the year: the data is complete; the data is accurate; 

and the data is current. These criteria are monitored by creating reports from the 

database that show the number of reporting fire departments, the number of incidents 

by state, the number of invalid incidents, and the number of unreleased incidents. The 

USFA provides the reports to the state NFIRS program managers and works with them 

to resolve any data issues. Technical assistance (e.g., telephone support or site visits) is 

provided to states to help address any data quality and data reporting needs.

25For an explanation of the difference between raw fire incident data and estimated fire incident data, see the 

USFA NFIRSGRAM “The Difference Between Reported Fire Incident Data and Estimated Fire Incident Data,” 

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/nfirs/support/nfirsgrams/nfirsgram_reported_versus_estimates.html. 26National estimates are based on “The National Estimates Approach to U.S. Fire Statistics” by Hall and Harwood: 

http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/fire-statistics-and-reports/fire-statistics/how-nfpa-estimates-firesand-fire-losses. 27The NFPA summary estimates are used for the overall U.S. fire losses; for fire losses from structure, vehicle, 

outside and other fires; and as the basis for the USFA’s estimates of residential and nonresidential building 

fires. The alternative approach for these summary numbers is to use the relative percentage of fires (or other 

loss measures) from the NFIRS and scale up (multiply by) to the NFPA estimate of total fires.
22 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Audits of the data are performed during the year to identify any inconsistencies. The 

audits focus on three criteria: gaps in reporting, critical errors in the data, and outliers 

in the data. In particular, the USFA works closely with states to monitor the quality of 

data coming from third party vendor software. Each state is responsible to enforce that 

the NFIRS third party software sold by vendors in their state is compliant with NFIRS 

standards. The USFA assists states in monitoring vendor data quality issues or contacts 

vendors directly to discuss an issue at a state’s request. Other data quality issues are 

questionable, high dollar-loss incidents and questionable, high numbers of fire deaths. 

Annually, USFA staff queries the database for questionable values (i.e., outliers) and 

verifies the values with state-level NFIRS program managers and local-level NFIRS program 

managers. The data quality steps are important to ensure that the data meet the USFA’s 

three criteria before the data are released in the NFIRS PDR format.

The USFA published the report “Review and Assessment of Data Quality in the National 

Fire Incident Reporting System,” (May 2017). This document covered a review of the 

system, the many robust data quality checks and mechanisms which are an integral part 

of the NFIRS, and an assessment of the data quality both at the state level and at the data 

element level. The data element assessment focused on the most common data elements 

used in NFIRS data analyses. NFIRS data was reviewed from the three most recent years 

available at the time of the report’s development (2009 to 2011). Additionally, a section 

drawn from published NFPA documents covering the NFPA survey methodology was 

also included. The “Review and Assessment of Data Quality in the National Fire Incident 

Reporting System” document is available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/

publications/nfirs_data_quality_report.pdf.

Unknown entries, incomplete loss reporting, and unreported fires are also important 

considerations when assessing NFIRS data quality. These topics are discussed in more 

detail in the sections that follow.

Unknown entries

Unknown entries are of the highest concern for data quality. On a fraction of the incident 

reports or casualty reports sent to the NFIRS, the desired information for many data 

items either is not reported or is reported as “unknown.” The total number of blank or 

unknown entries is often larger than some of the important subcategories. For example, 

47 percent of fatal fires in residential buildings reported from 2013 to 2015 do not have 

sufficient data recorded in the NFIRS to determine fire cause.28 The lack of data, especially 

for these residential fatal fires, masks the true picture of the fire problem. 

Many prevention and public education programs use NFIRS data to target at-risk groups 

or to address critical problems. Fire officials use the data in decision-making that 

affects the allocation of firefighting resources, and consumer groups and litigators use 

the data to assess product fire incidence. When the numbers of unknown entries are 

large, the credibility of the data suffers. In some cases, even after the best attempts 

by fire investigators, the information is truly unknown. In other cases, the information 

reported as unknown in the initial NFIRS report is not updated after the fire investigation 

is completed. Fire departments need to be more aware of the effect of incomplete data 

reporting, and they need to update the initial NFIRS report if additional information is 

available after the investigation. Through various USFA and NFDC training initiatives and 

28USFA, Topical Fire Report Series, “Civilian Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings (2013-2015),” Volume 18, Issue 

4, July 2017, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v18i4.pdf.
Methodology 23

efforts by various fire organizations, fire departments are encouraged to reduce the 

number of unknown entries by fully documenting the fire incident.

In making national estimates, the unknowns should not be ignored. The approach taken 

by the USFA in presenting the data is to provide not only the “raw” percentages of each 

category but also the “adjusted” percentages computed using only those incidents for 

which data were provided. This calculation, in effect, distributes the fires for which the 

data are unknown in the same proportion as the fires for which the data are known, which 

may or may not be approximately right. Both the reported data and the adjusted data (if 

unknowns are present) are plotted on bar charts.

To illustrate, using the cause of residential building fires, cooking was determined as the fire 

cause for 41.9 percent of reported residential building fires from 2013 to 2015. Another 16.3 

percent of reported fires had cause unknown. Thus, the percentage of fires that had their 

cause reported was 100 minus 16.3, which equals 83.7 percent. With the unknown causes 

proportioned like the known causes, the adjusted percentage of cooking fires in residential 

buildings can then be computed as 41.9 divided by 83.7, which equals 50.1 percent.29

Incomplete loss reporting

As troublesome as insufficient data for the various NFIRS data items can be, equally 

challenging is the apparent nonreporting of injuries and property loss associated with 

many fire incidents. For example, there are many reported fires where the flame spread 

indicates damage but property loss is not reported. It is notoriously difficult to estimate 

dollar loss, but an approximation is more useful than leaving the data item blank. The 

degree to which there is incomplete reporting of civilian fire deaths is more difficult to 

identify, as the numbers of deaths are relatively small. Incomplete reporting of civilian 

injuries is also difficult to ascertain, but the injury-per-fire profiles for most departments 

are within reason.

Unreported fires

The NFIRS only includes fires to which the fire service responded. In some states, fires 

attended by state fire agencies (such as forestry) are included; in other states, they are not.

Nonreporting to the National Fire Incident Reporting System

The NFIRS includes fires from all states, but does not include incidents from all fire 

departments within participating states. The percentage of fire departments reporting 

varies greatly from state to state. However, if the fires from the reporting departments are 

reasonably representative, this omission does not cause a problem in making useful national 

estimates for any but the smallest subcategories of data and some geographic analyses.

Some fire departments submit information on most, but not all, of their fires. Sometimes 

the confusion is systematic, such as when no-loss cooking fires or chimney fires are 

not reported. Sometimes it is inadvertent, such as when incident reports are lost or 

accidentally not submitted. The information that is received is assumed to be the total 

for the department and is extrapolated as such.

29USFA, Topical Fire Report Series, “Residential Building Fires (2013-2015),” Volume 18, Issue 1, June 2017, https://

www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v18i1.pdf.
24 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Nonreporting to the fire service

A very large number of fires are not reported to the fire service at all. Most are believed 

to be small fires in the home or industry that go out by themselves or are extinguished 

by the occupant. Special surveys of homes and businesses are needed to estimate the 

unreported fires. No attempt is made here to estimate them. Studies undertaken in the 

mid-1970s, mid-1980s, and again in the mid-2000s on unreported residential fires indicated 

that a substantial number of fires are not reported to local fire departments. The 2004 to 

2005 CPSC study on unreported residential fires noted that, of the estimated number of 

fires in residences, only 3 percent were reported to fire departments and 97 percent were 

not.30 Although the vast majority of fire incidents are unreported because they are small, 

confined and immediately extinguished, they are still fires. Even the largest fire starts small. 

Hence, all fires, regardless of size, merit prevention attention and analytic investigation.

Structures versus buildings

NFIRS 5.0 allows for the differentiation between buildings and nonbuildings. In the NFIRS, 

a structure is a built object that can include platforms, tents, connective structures (e.g., 

bridges, fences), telephone poles, and other various structures in addition to buildings. 

From 2006 to 2015, analyses of NFIRS structure fires show that, in general, the majority 

(94 percent) of structure fires occurred in buildings.

Structure fires are defined by the NFIRS incident type — Incident Type 110 series (structure 

fires) and Incident Type 120 series (fires in mobile property used as a fixed structure).31

These incident types are:

ĵ 111 Building fire.

ĵ 112 Fires in structure other than in a building.32

ĵ 113 Cooking fire, confined to container.

ĵ 114 Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue.

ĵ 115 Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined.

ĵ 116 Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined.

ĵ 117 Commercial compactor fire, confined to rubbish.

ĵ 118 Trash or rubbish fire, contained.

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

ĵ 121 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence.

ĵ 122Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle.

ĵ 123Fire in portable building, fixed location.

As building fires are a subset of structure fires, they are defined as structure fires where 

the structure type is an enclosed building, a fixed portable, or a mobile structure. By 

definition, this excludes nonbuilding structures. Previous USFA analyses demonstrated that 

confined structure fire incidents with full incident reporting primarily occurred in buildings. 

To accommodate the confined fire incident types with abbreviated incident reporting, the 

30Greene, Michael A. and Craig Andres, Division of Hazard Analysis, Directorate for Epidemiology, U.S. CPSC, 

“2004-2005 National Sample Survey of Unreported Residential Fires,” July 2009.

31Note that Incident Type 110 is not included. Incident Type 110 is a conversion code for NFIRS 4.1. Incident 

Type 110 is not a valid code for data collected in NFIRS 5.0. Incidents in the NFIRS 5.0 database with Incident 

Type 110 are incidents collected under the NFIRS 4.1 system that are converted to NFIRS 5.0 compatible data.

32Preliminary findings noted that the fires coded as Incident Type 112 appear to be in buildings. A more detailed 

look at these incident types is required to determine whether they were coded correctly.
Methodology 25

incident is also assumed to be a building if the structure type is not specified. In terms of 

NFIRS data, building fires are therefore defined using the following criteria:

ĵ NFIRS Version 5.0 data.

ĵ Aid Types:

Ý 1 Mutual aid received.

Ý 2 Automatic aid received.

Ý 5 Other aid given.

Note: Mutual aid given and automatic aid given (Aid Types 3 and 4) were excluded to 

avoid counting the same incident more than once.

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

Ý 111 Building fire.

Ý 113 Cooking fire, confined to container.

Ý 114 Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue.

Ý 115 Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined.

Ý 116 Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined.

Ý 117 Commercial compactor fire, confined to rubbish.

Ý 118 Trash or rubbish fire, contained.

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

Ý 121 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence.

Ý 122 Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle.

Ý 123 Fire in portable building, fixed location.

Notes: 1. Incident Types 113 to 118 do not specify if the structure is a building.

2. Incident Type 112 was included in data analyses prior to 2008, as previous 

analyses showed that Incident Types 111 and 112 were used interchangeably. 

As of 2008, Incident Type 112 was excluded.

ĵ Structure Type:

Ý For Incident Types 113 to 118:

f 1—Enclosed building, or

f 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure, or

f Structure Type not specified (null entry).

Ý For Incident Types 111 and 120 to 123:

f 1—Enclosed building, or

f 2—Fixed portable or mobile structure.

The distinction between buildings and nonbuildings is particularly important when 

determining the effectiveness of engineered fire safety features, such as smoke alarms and 

residential sprinklers. These important components of early fire detection and automatic 

suppression apply to buildings and not necessarily to other types of structures. To facilitate 

analysis of these components and to acknowledge that prevention efforts are generally 

focused on buildings, the USFA separates the subset of buildings from the rest of the 

structures. For these reasons, the USFA focuses on producing building fire and loss estimates.

The USFA’s Fire Estimate Summary Series, as well as 2003 to 2015 national estimates of 

residential and nonresidential building fires and losses, are published at https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.html. For information on the USFA’s 

methodology for computing national estimates of residential and nonresidential building 

fires and losses, please review the USFA’s National Estimates Methodology for Building 

Fires and Losses (August 2012) at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/

national_estimate_methodology.pdf.
26 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Computing trends

One FAQ is how much a particular aspect of the fire problem has changed over time. The 

usual response is in terms of a percent change from one year to another. In dealing with 

real-world data that fluctuates from year to year, a percent change from one specific year 

to another can be misleading. This is especially true when the beginning and ending data 

points are extremes, either high or low. For example, Table 5 shows that the percent change 

from 445 fire deaths in multifamily residential buildings in 2006 to 390 fire deaths in 2015 

would be a substantial decrease of 12.4 percent; however, if 2007 is chosen as the beginning 

data point (405 fire deaths), this change would show a 3.7 percent decrease. As trends in the 

U.S. fire problem are of interest, the USFA presents the computed best-fit linear trend line 

(which smoothes fluctuations in the year-to-year data) and presents the change over time 

based on this trend line. In this example, the overall 10-year trend is a decrease in deaths of 

3.1 percent. As noted above, trends that incorporate NFIRS data from the 5.0 system may 

have subtle changes as a result of the system design and not a true trend change.

Table 5. Comparison of percent change indicators

Year

Multifamily 

residential 

building 

fire deaths

Best-fit 

linear trend

Change 

between 

2006 and 2015

Change 

between 

2007 and 2015

2006 445 412 445

2007 405 410 405

2008 395 409

2009 375 408

2010 425 406

2011 390 405

2012 400 403

2013 390 402

2014 440 401

2015 390 399 390 390

Percent change -3.1 -12.4 -3.7

Source:	 USFA national estimates of multifamily residential building fire deaths.

Rounding

Percentages on each chart are rounded to one decimal point. Textual discussions cite 

these percentages as whole numbers. Thus, 13.4 percent is rounded to 13 percent, and 

13.5 percent is rounded to 14 percent. National estimates are rounded as follows: Fires are 

rounded to the nearest 100 fires, deaths to the nearest five deaths, injuries to the nearest 

25 injuries, and loss to the nearest million dollars.

Comparing statistics

Differences between the current NFIRS and older versions have, or may have, an effect 

on the analyses of fire topics. These differences, the result of both coding changes and 

data element design changes, required revisions to long-standing groupings and analyses. 

The revisions have caused some challenges when comparing current data to past data.
Methodology 27

Data collection and reporting changes

The following are among the areas that are approached differently in NFIRS 5.0: 

abbreviated or streamlined reporting for qualified incidents, the collection of smoke 

alarm and automatic extinguishing system data (formerly called sprinklers), definition 

changes for some property types, the differentiation between buildings and structures, 

and changes in the cause methodology.33 These revisions have resulted in changes in 

overall trends, some subtle and some substantial.

Confined fires

“Confined fires” are fires contained to certain types of equipment or objects within a 

structure. In the NFIRS, a confined structure fire is defined by Incident Type codes 113 to 

118.34 Confined structure fires are typically small fire incidents that are limited in extent, 

staying within pots, fireplaces or certain other noncombustible containers. Confined 

structure fires rarely result in serious injury or large content loss and are expected to 

have no significant accompanying property loss due to flame damage.35

The NFIRS allows abbreviated reporting for confined structure fires. For these incident 

types, the Basic Module is required to be completed. The NFIRS users may also optionally 

complete the Fire Module and the Structure Fire Module for confined fires, although it is 

not required. If any civilian or firefighter injuries occurred as a result of the confined fire, 

the Civilian Fire Casualty Module and/or the Fire Service Casualty Module are required to 

be completed for each injury reported on the Basic Module.

The limited reporting of confined, low-loss structure fires allows the fire service to capture 

incidents that either may have gone unreported prior to the introduction of NFIRS 5.0 or 

were reported, but as a nonfire incident, as little to no loss was involved.36 Data from this 

reporting option for structure fires was investigated in a 2006 USFA report, “Confined 

Structure Fires.” The addition of these fires results in increased proportions of cooking 

and heating fires in analyses of structure fire cause. In other analyses, the inclusion of 

confined fires may result in larger percentages of unknown values, as detailed reporting of 

fire specifics is not required. In many of the USFA’s analyses, the confined fires are analyzed 

separately from the nonconfined fires to account for the fact that detailed reporting is not 

required for the confined fires. In 2015, confined structure fires accounted for 19 percent 

of all reported fires and 49 percent of all reported structure fires. Of the confined structure 

fires, 81 percent were no- or low-loss cooking fires (69 percent) and heating fires (12 percent).

Structure fire cause methodology

Since the introduction of NFIRS 5.0, the implementation of the cause hierarchy has 

resulted in a steady increase in the percentages of unknown fire causes. This increase may 

33Other changes between NFIRS 4.1 and 5.0, such as mutual aid, do not have as significant an impact on 

analyses. As such, they are not addressed here. The NFIRS 5.0 documentation at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/

data/nfirs/support/documentation.html provides detailed information. 34The confined structure fire incident type code descriptions are as follows: 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; and 118-Trash or rubbish fire, contained.

35Content 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. For confined fires, the expectation 

is that the fire did not spread beyond the container (or rubbish for Incident Type code 118), and therefore, there 

was no property damage (damage to the structure itself) from the flames. However, there could be property 

damage as a result of smoke, water and overhaul.

36Some states routinely reported such nonloss fires as smoke scares. The result, from a reporting viewpoint, 

is that the incident is reported but not coded as a fire incident.
28 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

be due, in part, to the fact that the original cause hierarchy (described in “Fire in the United 

States 1995-2004,” 14th edition) does not apply as well to NFIRS 5.0. Causal information 

collected as part of NFIRS 5.0 was not incorporated in the old hierarchy. As a result, many 

incidents were assigned to the unknown cause category. As the hierarchy was originally 

designed for structures, incidents that did not fit well into the structure cause categories 

were also assigned to the unknown category.

Structure fires

To capture the wealth of data available in NFIRS 5.0, the USFA developed a modified 

version of the previous cause hierarchy for structure fires as shown in Table 6. The 

revised schema provides three levels of cause descriptions: a set of more detailed causes 

(priority cause description), a set of midlevel causes (cause description), and a set of highlevel causes (general cause description). The priority cause description and the cause 

description existed previously as part of the original cause hierarchy but have been 

expanded to capture the 5.0 data.

Table 6. Three-level structure fire cause hierarchy

Priority cause description 

(in hierarchical order) Cause description General cause description

Exposure Exposure Exposure

Intentional Intentional Firesetting

Cause under investigation Cause under investigation Unknown

Children playing Playing with heat source Firesetting Other playing

Natural Natural Natural

Fireworks

Other heat

Explosives Flame, heat

Smoking Smoking

Heating Heating

Cooking Cooking Equipment

Air conditioning Appliances

Electrical distribution Electrical malfunction Electrical

Appliances Appliances

Special equipment Equipment Other equipment Processing equipment

Torches Open flame Flame, heat

Service equipment

Other equipment Equipment Vehicle, engine

Unclassified fuel-powered 

equipment

Unclassified equipment with 

other or unknown fuel source Unknown Unknown

Unclassified electrical 

malfunction Electrical malfunction Electrical
Methodology 29

Table 6. Three-level structure fire cause hierarchy — continued

Priority cause description 

(in hierarchical order) Cause description General cause 

description

Matches, candles Open flame

Flame, heat

Open fire

Other open flame, spark Other heat

Friction, hot material

Ember, rekindle Open flame

Other hot object Other heat

Natural condition, other Natural Natural

Heat source or product misuse Other unintentional, careless Unknown

Equipment operation deficiency Equipment misoperation, failure Equipment Equipment failure, malfunction

Trash, rubbish Unknown

Unknown

Other unintentional Other unintentional, careless

Exposure (fire spread, other) Exposure Exposure

Unknown Unknown Unknown

Source: USFA.

Note:	 Fires are assigned to a cause category in the hierarchical order shown. 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 on the list.

The causes of fires are often a complex chain of events. To make it easier to grasp the “big 

picture,” the 16 midlevel categories of fire causes, such as heating, cooking, and playing 

with heat source, are used by the USFA. The alternative is to present scores of detailed 

cause categories or scenarios, each of which would have a relatively small percentage 

of fires. For example, heating includes subcategories, such as misuse of portable space 

heaters, wood stove chimney fires, and fires involving gas central heating systems. 

Experience has shown that the larger categories are useful for an initial presentation of 

the fire problem. A more detailed analysis can follow.

Fires are assigned to one of the 16 midlevel cause groupings using a hierarchy of definitions, 

approximately as shown in Table 7.37 A fire is included in the highest category into which it 

fits on the list. If it does not fit the top category, then the second one is considered, and if 

not that one, the third, and so on. (See the note section in Table 6 for an example.)

Vehicle, outside and other fires

While these cause categories have usefulness for the other property types — vehicle, 

outside and other fires — there are limitations. For these property types, the causes of 

fires are based on the distributions of the NFIRS cause of ignition data element. This data 

element captures a very broad sense of the cause of the fire.

37The structure fire cause hierarchy and definitions can be found in the document “National Fire Incident 

Reporting System Version 5.0 Fire Data Analysis Guidelines and Issues,” July 2011, available at https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/nfirs/nfirs_data_analysis_guidelines_issues.pdf. The hierarchy involves a large 

number of subcategories that are later grouped into the 16 midlevel cause categories, then the seven highlevel cause groupings.
30 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Deaths, injuries and dollar loss

In previous analyses, the cause sections have included the distributions of deaths, injuries 

and dollar loss by fire cause. In principle, it is the cause of the fire that results in deaths, 

injuries and dollar loss that should be analyzed — not numbers of deaths and injuries 

associated with fire causes. Therefore, analyses of fire cause address fires that result in 

deaths (fatal fires), fires that result in injuries, and fires that result in dollar loss.

Other considerations

An additional problem to keep in mind, when considering the rank order of causes, is 

that sufficient data to categorize the causes was not reported to the NFIRS for all fatal 

fires in the database. The rank order of causes might be different than shown here if the 

cause profile for the fires where causes were not reported to the NFIRS was substantially 

different from the profile for the fires where causes were reported. However, there is 

no information available to indicate that there is a major difference between the known 

causes and the unknown causes, so the USFA’s best present estimate of fire causes is 

based on the distribution of the fires with known causes.

Table 7. Midlevel cause groupings

Cause category Definition

Exposure Caused by heat spreading from another hostile fire.

Intentional38 Cause of ignition is intentional, or fire is deliberately set.

Cause under 

investigation

Cause is under investigation, and a valid NFIRS Arson Module is 

present. (This category was formerly called “Investigation with 

Arson Module.”)

Playing with 

heat source

Includes all fires caused by individuals playing with any materials 

contained in the categories below, as well as fires where the factors 

contributing to ignition include playing with heat source. Children 

playing with fire is included in this category.

Natural Caused by the sun’s heat, spontaneous ignition, chemicals, 

lightning, static discharge, high winds, storms, high water including 

floods, earthquakes, volcanic action, and animals.

Other heat Includes fireworks, explosives, flame/torch used for lighting, heat 

or spark from friction, molten material, hot material, heat from hot 

or smoldering objects.

Smoking Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and heat from undetermined smoking 

materials.

Heating Includes confined chimney or flue fire, fire confined to fuel burner/

boiler malfunction, central heating, fixed and portable local heating 

units, fireplaces and chimneys, furnaces, boilers, water heaters as 

source of heat.

38Fires caused by intentional actions include, but are not limited to, fires that are deemed to be arson. 

Intentional fires are those fires that are deliberately set, and they include fires that result from the deliberate 

misuse of a heat source and fires of an incendiary nature (arson) that require fire service intervention. For 

information and statistics on arson fires only, refer to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program arson statistics 

from the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, https://www.fbi.gov/

about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr.
Methodology 31

Table 7. Midlevel cause groupings — continued

Cause category Definition

Cooking Includes confined cooking fires, stoves, ovens, fixed and portable 

warming units, deep fat fryers, open grills as source of heat.

Appliances Includes televisions, radios, video equipment, phonographs, dryers, 

washing machines, dishwashers, garbage disposals, vacuum 

cleaners, hand tools, electric blankets, irons, hair dryers, electric 

razors, can openers, dehumidifiers, heat pumps, water cooling 

devices, air conditioners, freezers and refrigeration equipment as 

source of heat.

Electrical 

malfunction

Includes electrical distribution, wiring, transformers, meter boxes, 

power switching gear, outlets, cords, plugs, surge protectors, 

electric fences, lighting fixtures, electrical arcing as source of heat.

Other 

equipment

Includes special equipment (radar, X-ray, computer, telephone, 

transmitters, vending machine, office machine, pumps, printing 

press, gardening tools, agricultural equipment), processing 

equipment (furnace, kiln, other industrial machines), service, 

maintenance equipment (incinerator, elevator), separate motor or 

generator, vehicle in a structure, unspecified equipment.

Open flame, 

spark (heat 

from)

Includes torches, candles, matches, lighters, open fire, ember, ash, 

rekindled fire, backfire from internal combustion engine as source 

of heat.

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

Includes misuse of material or product, abandoned or discarded 

materials or products, heat source too close to combustibles, other 

unintentional (mechanical failure/malfunction, backfire).

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

Includes equipment operation deficiency, equipment malfunction.

Unknown Cause of fire undetermined or not reported.

Source: USFA.

NFIRS fire causal data can be analyzed in many ways, such as by the heat source, equipment 

involved in ignition, factors contributing to ignition, or many other groupings. The hierarchy 

of causes has proven to be useful in understanding the fire problem and targeting 

prevention, but other approaches are useful too. Because the NFIRS database stores records 

fire-by-fire, and not just in summary statistics, a wide variety of analyses is possible.

The cause categories displayed in the graphs of the USFA’s NFIRS data-related reports 

are listed in the same order to make comparisons easier from one to another. The y-scale 

varies from figure to figure, depending on the largest percentage that is shown; the y-scale 

on a figure with multiple charts, however, is always the same.

Differences between the National Fire Incident Reporting System data and 

the National Fire Protection Association survey data

As there are differences between any two analysts using NFIRS data because of the many 

assumptions and decisions about how to analyze incomplete and imperfect data, there can 

be inconsistencies between different data sources. In particular, there are discrepancies 
32 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

between the NFIRS 5.0 data and the NFPA annual survey data. In general, NFIRS 5.0 deaths 

and injuries per 1,000 fires are lower than those of the NFPA. In addition, with the exception 

of 2007 and 2012 to 2015, NFIRS 5.0 dollar loss per fire was lower than that of the NFPA.39

From 2011 to 2015, the NFIRS collected fire incident data from an average of 20,600 fire 

departments each year.40 The NFPA annual survey of fire departments41 collects data from 

nearly 3,000 fire departments. The NFIRS is not a statistically selected sample; however, 

it is a very large set of fire incidents estimated to be, on average, two-thirds of reported 

fires. The NFPA survey is based on a statistical sample. These two datasets often yield 

dramatically different fire rates. The NFPA survey collects tallied totals, whereas the NFIRS 

collects individual incident reports. The proportion of native NFIRS 5.0 fire data rose from 

89 percent of all NFIRS fire incidents collected in 2004 to 100 percent of all NFIRS fire 

incidents starting in 2009 (Table 4). It is not surprising, therefore, that there are differences 

between the NFPA annual survey results and the NFIRS results. In the years examined 

(2006 to 2015), the common thread was the increase in the ratios of NFIRS data to the NFPA 

estimates. In general, the deaths reported to the NFIRS represented a smaller fraction of 

the NFPA national estimate of deaths than the NFIRS number of fires represented of the 

NFPA estimate of fires. Estimates of dollar loss are notoriously inexact; it is not surprising 

that the NFIRS dollar loss changed from year to year with respect to NFPA totals (Figure 2).

39As NFIRS 5.0 captures a large number of small, low-loss fires (confined fires) previously thought to be 

unreported, these differences in loss rates per fire may not be surprising.

40This figure excludes mutual-aid incidents.

41“Fire Loss in the United States,” NFPA Journal, generally the September/October issue each year.
Methodology 33

Figure 2. Ratio of raw National Fire Incident Reporting System data to National 

Fire Protection Association national estimates Ratio

0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

Fires Deaths

Injuries Dollar Loss

2015201420132012201120102009200820072006

Fires Deaths Injuries Dollar loss

2006 0.58 0.57 0.55 0.54

2007 0.63 0.55 0.53 0.64

2008 0.64 0.59 0.57 0.62

2009 0.67 0.61 0.56 0.57

2010 0.73 0.63 0.59 0.62

2011 0.71 0.67 0.60 0.70

2012 0.65 0.65 0.56 0.65

2013 0.67 0.57 0.56 0.70

2014 0.68 0.61 0.58 0.75

2015 0.66 0.62 0.58 0.72

Sources: NFPA and NFIRS.

Note: The 2007 dollar loss excludes the one-time large loss of an estimated $1.8 billion associated with the 2007 California 

Fire Storm. The 2008 dollar loss excludes the one-time large loss of an estimated $1.4 billion associated with the 2008 

California Wildfires. These losses do not have associated property uses. The 2010 dollar loss excludes the Fourmile

Canyon Wildfire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $217 million. The 2012 dollar loss excludes the Waldo

Canyon Fire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $453.7 million, the High Park Fire also in Colorado with an 

estimated property loss of $113.7 million, and the $400 million property damage to the USS Miami (submarine). The 

2013 dollar loss excludes the Black Forest Fire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $420.5 million. The 2015 

dollar loss excludes the 2015 California Wildfires with an estimated property loss of $1.95 billion (this figure includes

total property loss for the Valley and Butte Wildfires).

Looking at the problem from a different perspective, Figure 3 shows the number of deaths 

per 1,000 fires, injuries per 1,000 fires, and dollar loss per fire from the NFIRS and the 

NFPA from 2006 to 2015. In general, deaths and injuries per 1,000 fires were lower for the 

NFIRS than for the NFPA. With the exception of 2007 and 2012 to 2015, NFIRS dollar loss 

per fire was lower than that of the NFPA.
34 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Between 2006 and 2015, the NFIRS had, on average, a difference of 8 percent fewer fire 

deaths per 1,000 fires than the NFPA survey data. Annually, the NFIRS percent differences of 

fire deaths per 1,000 fires ranged from 0.6 percent more to 15 percent less than that of the 

NFPA. In 2015, the NFIRS showed 6 percent fewer fire deaths per 1,000 fires than the NFPA.

Injuries per 1,000 fires revealed a greater disparity between the two datasets. On average, 

between 2006 and 2015, the NFIRS had a difference of 14 percent fewer fire injuries per 

1,000 fires than the NFPA survey.

On average, over the 10-year period, the NFIRS dollar loss per fire was 2 percent lower 

than that of the NFPA survey, yet for 2012 to 2015, the NFIRS dollar loss per fire was 

greater than that of the NFPA.42 In 2008 and 2011, NFIRS dollar loss was only 3 percent and 

2 percent lower, respectively, than the dollar loss estimates from the NFPA survey, but a 

much greater disparity was revealed in 2009 (15 percent lower), 2010 (15 percent lower), 

2014 (9 percent higher), and 2015 (9 percent higher). In 2007, 2 percent more dollar loss 

was reported to the NFIRS per fire than was reflected by the NFPA survey estimates; for 

each of the years 2012 and 2013, 1 percent and 5 percent more dollar loss was reported 

to the NFIRS per fire.

Figure 3. National Fire Incident Reporting System data versus National Fire 

Protection Association survey: losses per fire

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

NFIRS

NFPA

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Deaths (per 1,000 fires) Deaths (per 1,000 fires)

Year NFIRS NFPA

2006 1.93 1.98

2007 1.92 2.20

2008 2.13 2.29

2009 2.04 2.23

2010 2.02 2.34

2011 2.04 2.16

2012 2.09 2.08

2013 2.21 2.61

2014 2.25 2.52

2015 2.29 2.44

42The greater NFIRS dollar loss per fire may be, in part, due to the result of an NFIRS edit that was implemented 

in January 2012 that generates the following warning message: “Estimated dollar losses are required for all 

fires. If there was no loss or no pre-incident value, check or mark the appropriate ‘None’ boxes. If loss cannot be 

estimated, do not enter a loss value and no further action is required.” NFIRS Version 5.0 Design Documentation 

(January 2012), https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/nfirs/NFIRS_Spec_2012.pdf, Relational Edit #184. 
Methodology 35

Figure 3. National Fire Incident Reporting System data versus National Fire 

Protection Association survey: losses per fire — continued

Injuries (per 1,000 fires)

9.0

9.4

9.8

10.2

10.6

11.0

11.4

11.8

12.2

12.6

13.0

13.4

NFIRS

NFPA

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Injuries (per 1,000 fires)

Year NFIRS NFPA

2006 9.48 9.98

2007 9.52 11.35

2008 10.30 11.51

2009 10.65 12.64

2010 10.61 13.31

2011 10.59 12.59

2012 10.47 12.00

2013 10.64 12.84

2014 10.34 12.15

2015 10.25 11.67

Dollar loss (per fire) adjusted to 2015 dollars

$6,000

$6,500

$7,000

$7,500

$8,000

$8,500

$9,000

$9,500

$10,000

$10,500

$11,000

$11,500

NFIRS

NFPA

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Dollar loss (per fire)*

Year NFIRS NFPA

2006 7,569 8,093

2007 9,580 9,423

2008 10,320 10,677

2009 8,739 10,266

2010 7,881 9,287

2011 8,687 8,841

2012 8,683 8,604

2013 9,545 9,111

2014 9,791 8,951

2015 9,972 9,177

Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.

Notes: The 2007 dollar loss excludes the one-time large loss of an estimated $1.8 billion associated with the 2007 California 

Fire Storm. The 2008 dollar loss excludes the one-time large loss of an estimated $1.4 billion associated with the 2008 

California Wildfires. These losses do not have associated property uses. The 2010 dollar loss excludes the Fourmile

Canyon Wildfire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $217 million. The 2012 dollar loss excludes the Waldo

Canyon Fire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $453.7 million, the High Park Fire also in Colorado with an 

estimated property loss of $113.7 million, and the $400 million property damage to the USS Miami (submarine). The 

2013 dollar loss excludes the Black Forest Fire in Colorado with an estimated property loss of $420.5 million. The 2015 

dollar loss excludes the 2015 California Wildfires with an estimated property loss of $1.95 billion (this figure includes

total property loss for the Valley and Butte Wildfires).

*Adjusted to 2015 dollars.
36 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Other minor differences appear when reviewing losses by general property type as 

shown in Figure 4. Specifically, the distributions of fires across property types between 

the NFIRS and the NFPA were quite similar, which is reassuring. Over the 10-year period, 

the proportions of structure fires (both residential and nonresidential) and outside and 

other fires were higher in the NFIRS reported data, while the proportion of vehicle fires 

represented by the NFPA estimate was higher than what was reported to the NFIRS. 

Regardless of the specifics, the distributions were reasonably comparable.

Figure 4. Comparison of National Fire Incident Reporting System data with 

National Fire Protection Association estimates by general property type 

(10-year average, 2006-2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

NFPA

NFIRS

Outside

 and other

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential

29.0

28.0

8.1

7.6

14.0

15.8

48.9

48.5

Percent

Fires

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

NFPA

NFIRS

Outside

 and other

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential

75.5

84.0

3.7

2.8

16.5

11.4

4.4

1.9

Percent

Deaths

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

NFPA

NFIRS

Outside

 and other

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential

77.6

78.6

7.6

8.7

6.6

8.2

8.2

4.6

Percent

Injuries

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

NFPA

Outside NFIRS

 and other

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential

54.4

59.3

26.9

23.4

11.2

12.0

7.5

5.3

Percent

Dollar loss adjusted to 2015 dollars

Sources: NFPA and NFIRS.
Methodology 37

The deaths, injuries and dollar losses that resulted from these fires were consistently 

more heavily represented in residential structures in the NFPA estimates. For the other 

major property categories (except vehicular fire injuries and dollar loss, and nonresidential 

structure fire injuries), the NFPA percentages of losses were consistently less than those 

resulting from NFIRS data.

One of the more important consequences of these distributions is in the creation of 

estimates of the various parts of the U.S. fire problem. For example, it is noted that the 

2015 NFPA residential structure fire estimates reflect 79 percent of all fire deaths (2,605 of 

3,280) and 74 percent of all fire injuries (11,575 of 15,700). If the 2015 NFIRS percentages for 

residential structure fire deaths (74.51 percent) and injuries (75.49 percent) were applied 

to the overall 2015 NFPA estimates of fire deaths and injuries, the estimates would yield 

nearly 2,445 deaths and 11,850 injuries resulting from residential structure fires. The 

scaled up NFIRS estimate of residential structure fire deaths is 6 percent lower than the 

NFPA estimate of residential structure fire deaths, whereas the scaled up estimate of 

residential structure fire injuries is 2 percent higher than the NFPA estimate of residential 

structure fire injuries.

The reasons for these differences in distributions between the NFPA and the NFIRS are 

not known. It may be that some departments reporting summary data to the NFPA 

inadvertently undercount their casualties and losses when reporting on the NFPA survey 

forms. Another possibility is that there are data entry errors in the NFIRS, with larger 

numbers of deaths, injuries and dollar loss per incident record being entered into the 

database despite edit checks at state and federal levels. (It appears that at least some of 

the dollar loss difference is due to this.)

A third possibility for the differences is that, with the introduction of abbreviated reporting 

of small, low- or no-loss confined fires in the NFIRS, the NFPA sample of these fires is 

not adequately represented. It is known that, prior to abbreviated NFIRS reporting, 

some departments did not fill out NFIRS forms for minor fires, such as food on stoves or 

chimney fires. It is not clear whether these fires were included in the department’s report 

to the NFPA and whether this reporting has changed. Also unknown is the actual extent 

of this problem.

A fourth possibility is that some jurisdictions use the NFIRS as a tracking system for 

fire casualty information without providing the related incident data or vice versa. This 

situation does indeed occur from time to time in the NFIRS. Again, it is unclear how these 

incidents and their corresponding losses are reported to the NFPA.

Lastly, it could be that techniques used to generate the NFPA estimates unintentionally 

favor residential buildings, or that the NFIRS may result in fewer residential losses because 

it is a voluntary system and not based on a statistical sample.

Resolving the differences between the two major sources of fire statistics in the U.S. is 

important to prevent confusion among users of the data.
38 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Organization of report

This report presents an overview of the national fire problem in terms of estimates of the 

total numbers of fires, deaths, injuries, and dollar loss (the four principal measures used 

to describe the fire problem), as well as 10-year trends. It also provides an overview and 

10-year trends of building fires and losses (i.e., residential and nonresidential). Trends 

in vehicle and other mobile properties, as well as outside and other properties are also 

analyzed. Additionally, the report covers causes of fires and fires resulting in losses, as 

well as fire casualties in terms of death and injury rates and relative risk.
The National Fire Problem 39

The National Fire Problem

Fire departments in the U.S. responded to over 1.3 million fire calls in 2015.43 The U.S. 

fire problem no longer ranks as the most severe of the industrialized nations, yet each 

year thousands of Americans die, tens of thousands of people are injured, and property 

losses reach billions of dollars. Falling from among the top three nations in terms of the 

fire death rate two decades ago, the U.S. has the 12th highest fire death rate out of the 28 

industrialized nations examined by the World Fire Statistics Centre.44Nonetheless, the U.S. 

continues to experience fire death rates 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than those of most of its 

sister nations.45 Many Americans are not aware of this or of the nature of the fire problem.

There are huge indirect costs of fire as well — temporary lodging, lost business revenues, 

medical expenses, psychological damage, and others. To put this in context, the annual 

losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters 

combined in the U.S. average just a fraction of those from fires.46

Fires and losses (10-year trends, 2006 to 2015)

Over the 10 years from 2006 to 2015, the U.S. had an annual average of 1,398,000 fires 

resulting in 3,180 civilian deaths, 16,700 civilian injuries, and $14 billion in direct property 

loss each year.47 In terms of estimates of fires, fire deaths and fire injuries, the estimates 

are lower than they were 10 years ago. When the USFA was established in 1974, annual 

fire deaths were estimated at 12,000.48 The goal was to reduce deaths by 50 percent within 

25 years; that goal was met. By 2012, estimates of civilian fire deaths were at their lowest 

level (2,855). While fire deaths are still trending downward, in 2015, estimates of fire deaths 

were 15 percent higher than they were in 2012.

Figure 5 shows the 10-year trends for all fires and losses from 2006 to 2015. Fires declined 

by 19 percent over the 10 years. Trends in fire-related deaths, injuries and dollar loss also 

declined by 3 percent, 8 percent and 20 percent (when adjusted for inflation), respectively.

43NFPA, “Fire Loss in the United States During 2015,” September 2016.

4 4The Geneva Association, “World Fire Statistics,” Bulletin, Number 29, April 2014, https://www.

genevaassociation.org/sites/default/files/research-topics-document-type/pdf_public//ga2014-wfs29.pdf. Note:

Belgium was excluded from this review, as only its 2004 fire death rates were available.

45The Geneva Association, “World Fire Statistics,” Bulletin, Number 29, April 2014, https://www.

genevaassociation.org/sites/default/files/research-topics-document-type/pdf_public//ga2014-wfs29.pdf. 

As reported, the U.S. had a fire death rate of 1.11 fire deaths per 100,000 population for 2008 to 2010; the 

Netherlands had the lowest comparable European fire death rate at 0.46 per 100,000 population. Switzerland’s 

fire death rate was lower still at 0.34, but it excluded firefighter deaths.

46NWS, National Hazard Statistics, 2015, http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats/sum15.pdf.

47Annual average estimates are based on NFPA estimates of fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss. Fires are 

rounded to the nearest 100; deaths to the nearest five; injuries to the nearest 25; and dollar loss to the nearest 

billion dollars. The 2006 to 2014 dollar-loss values were adjusted to 2015 dollars.

48“America Burning.” The Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, 1973. The NFPA 

changed their estimation methodology in the mid-1970s. As a result, by 1977, the estimate of fire deaths had 

already dropped to approximately 7,400 and rose the next year to 7,700. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the 

50 percent reduction in fire deaths was achieved.
40 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 5. Fires and fire losses (2006-2015)

1,200

1,250

1,300

1,350

1,400

1,450

1,500

1,550

1,600

1,650

1,700

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fires (in thousands) Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 1,642.5

2007 1,557.5

2008 1,451.5

2009 1,348.5

2010 1,331.5

2011 1,389.5

2012 1,375.0

2013 1,240.0

2014 1,298.0

2015 1,345.5

10-year 

trend (%) -19.1%

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

Trend

Fire Deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 3,245

2007 3,430

2008 3,320

2009 3,010

2010 3,120

2011 3,005

2012 2,855

2013 3,240

2014 3,275

2015 3,280

10-year 

trend (%) -3.0%
The National Fire Problem 41

Figure 5. Fires and fire losses (2006-2015 ) — continued

15,500

16,000

16,500

17,000

17,500

18,000

18,500

Trend

Fire Injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 16,400

2007 17,675

2008 16,705

2009 17,050

2010 17,720

2011 17,500

2012 16,500

2013 15,925

2014 15,775

2015 15,700

10-year 

trend (%) -8.0%

$8.0

$10.0

$12.0

$14.0

$16.0

$18.0

Trend (adjusted)

Fire dollar loss 

(adjusted)

Trend (actual)

Fire dollar loss 

(actual)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire dollar loss (in $B)

Actual

Adjusted

Dollar Loss ($B)

Year Actual

Adjusted 

to 2015 

dollars

2006 $11.3 $13.3

2007 $14.6 $16.7

2008 $15.5 $17.0

2009 $12.5 $13.8

2010 $11.6 $12.6

2011 $11.7 $12.3

2012 $12.4 $12.8

2013 $11.5 $11.7

2014 $11.6 $11.6

2015 $14.3 $14.3

10-year 

trend 

(%)

-6.0% -20.4%

Sources: NFPA and CPI .
42 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Fire loss rates (2006-2015)

Figure 6 shows the 10-year trends in the rates per million population for all fires and 

associated losses from 2006 to 2015. Fires per million population reached a low in 2013, 

but rose slightly in 2014 and 2015. Still, in 2015, the fire death rate was less than a third of 

what it was in the late 1970s.49 Fires, deaths and injuries per million population continued 

to decline by 25 percent, 10 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Dollar loss per capita 

decreased 26 percent over the 10 years when adjusted for inflation.

Figure 6. Fire loss rates (2006-2015)

3,500.0

3,750.0

4,000.0

4,250.0

4,500.0

4,750.0

5,000.0

5,250.0

5,500.0

5,750.0

6,000.0

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fires per million population Fires per million 

population

Year Value

2006 5,504.7

2007 5,170.4

2008 4,773.2

2009 4,395.8

2010 4,304.2

2011 4,458.3

2012 4,379.0

2013 3,921.5

2014 4,074.5

2015 4,192.9

10-year 

trend (%) -25.0%

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

11.0

12.0

13.0

14.0

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire deaths per million population Deaths per million 

population

Year Value

2006 10.9

2007 11.4

2008 10.9

2009 9.8

2010 10.1

2011 9.6

2012 9.1

2013 10.2

2014 10.3

2015 10.2

10-year 

trend (%) -9.9%

49In 1979, the fire death rate was 34.8 deaths per million population as cited in USFA’s “America Burning 

Revisited,” 1987, p. 15.
The National Fire Problem 43

Figure 6. Fire loss rates (2006-2015) — continued

48.0

50.0

52.0

54.0

56.0

58.0

60.0

62.0

64.0

66.0

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire injuries per million population Injuries per million 

population

Year Value

2006 55.0

2007 58.7

2008 54.9

2009 55.6

2010 57.3

2011 56.2

2012 52.5

2013 50.4

2014 49.5

2015 48.9

10-year 

trend (%) -14.2%

$0.0

$10.0

$20.0

$30.0

$40.0

$50.0

$60.0

Trend (adjusted)

Fire dollar loss (adjusted)

Trend (actual)

Fire dollar loss (actual)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Fire dollar loss per capita

Actual

Adjusted

Dollar loss per capita

Year Actual 

value

Adjusted 

to 2015 

dollars

2006 $37.9 $44.6

2007 $48.6 $55.6

2008 $50.9 $56.0

2009 $40.8 $45.1

2010 $37.5 $40.7

2011 $37.4 $39.4

2012 $39.6 $40.9

2013 $36.4 $37.1

2014 $36.4 $36.5

2015 $44.6 $44.6

10-year 

trend 

(%)

-12.6% -26.1%

Sources: NFPA, CPI and U.S. Census Bureau.
44 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Types of properties where fires occur

This section describes the proportions of the fire problem by general property type: 

residential structures, nonresidential structures, vehicles, outside properties, and other 

or unknown properties.

Fires and fire losses by general property type (2015)

Figure 7 describes the proportions of the fire problem in 2015 by general property type. 

Over the years, there has been little change in the proportion of fires, deaths, injuries and 

dollar loss by the type of property involved. In terms of numbers of reported fires, the 

largest category continued to be outside fires (41 percent) — in fields, vacant lots, trash, 

etc. Residential and nonresidential structure fires together constituted 39 percent of fires, 

with residential structure fires outnumbering nonresidential structure fires by over 3 to 1. 

What may be surprising was the large percentage of vehicle fires. In fact, approximately 1 

out of every 7 fires which fire departments responded to involved a vehicle.

The largest percentage of reported deaths by far — 75 percent in 2015 — occurred on 

residential properties, with the majority of these on one- and two-family properties. 

Vehicles accounted for the second largest percentage of fire deaths at 18 percent. Only 

3 percent of the 2015 fire deaths occurred in nonresidential commercial and public 

properties. Outside and other miscellaneous fires, including wildfires, were also a small 

factor in fire deaths (4 percent combined).

Great attention is given to large, multiple-death fires in public places, such as hotels, 

nightclubs and office buildings; however, fires that kill 10 or more people are few in 

number and constitute only a small portion of overall fire deaths. Furthermore, public 

properties are generally required by local codes to have built-in fire suppression systems. 

The area with the largest problem is most commonly overlooked — in people’s homes. 

Prevention efforts continue to focus on home fire safety.

The picture was generally similar for fire injuries, with 76 percent of all reported injuries 

occurring on residential properties. The remaining fire injuries were distributed across 

the other property types — vehicles, 8 percent; nonresidential properties, 7 percent; and 

outside and other fires, 9 percent combined.

The picture changes somewhat for dollar loss. While residential properties were the 

leading property type for dollar loss, nonresidential properties played a considerable 

role. These two general property types accounted for 81 percent of all reported dollar 

loss. The proportion of dollar loss from outside fires may be understated because the 

destruction of trees, grass, etc., is often given zero value in fire incident reports if it is not 

commercial cropland or timber.
The National Fire Problem 45

Figure 7. Fires and fire losses by general property type (2015)

Fires by general property type (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 30.4

41.0

5.8

14.5

8.4

Percent

Fire deaths by general property type (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 74.5

2.2

2.2

18.3

2.8

Percent

Fire injuries by general property type (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 75.5

3.9

5.2

8.4

7.0

Percent
46 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 7. Fires and fire losses by general property type (2015) — continued

Fire dollar loss by general property type (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 52.2

3.2

1.9

13.7

29.0

Percent

Source: NFIRS.

Fire casualties and dollar loss per fire by general property type (2015)

Figure 8 shows reported fire deaths and injuries per 1,000 fires and dollar loss per fire in 

2015 by general property type: residential structures, nonresidential structures, vehicles, 

outside properties, and other or unknown properties. These indicators represent the 

severity of fires, but they are somewhat ambiguous because they can increase if there are 

more casualties or damage per fire (the numerators) or if fewer minor fires are reported 

(the denominators).

Residential fires had the highest numbers of deaths and injuries per 1,000 fires — another 

important reason for prevention programs to focus on home fire safety. Nonresidential 

structure fires had the highest dollar loss per fire.

Figure 8. Fire casualties and dollar loss per fire by general property type (2015)

Fire deaths per 1,000 fires (2015)

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 5.6

0.1

0.9

2.9

0.8

Deaths per 1,000 fires
The National Fire Problem 47

Figure 8. Fire casualties and dollar loss per fire by general property type (2015) 

— continued

Fire injuries per 1,000 fires (2015)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 25.5

1.0

9.3

5.9

8.5

Injuries per 1,000 fires

Dollar loss per fire (2015)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0

Other

Outside

Vehicle

Nonresidential

Residential 17.1

0.8

3.2

9.4

34.4

Dollar loss per fire ($ thousands)

Source: NFIRS.

Buildings and other properties

This section provides an overview of the fire problem in buildings, vehicles, and other 

mobile properties over the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015.

Buildings

The analysis of building fires is presented in two major sections: residential (including 

one- and two-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings, and other residential buildings) and 

nonresidential (including industrial and commercial properties, institutions, educational 

establishments, mobile properties, and storage properties).
48 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Residential building fires and losses

The term “residential buildings” includes what are commonly referred to as “homes,” 

whether they are one- and two-family dwellings or multifamily buildings. It also includes 

manufactured housing, hotels and motels, residential hotels, dormitories, assisted living 

facilities, and halfway houses — residences for formerly institutionalized individuals 

(mentally impaired patients, drug addicts, or convicts) that are designed to facilitate their 

readjustment to private life. The term “residential buildings” does not include institutions, 

such as prisons, nursing homes, juvenile care facilities, or hospitals, though many people 

may reside in them for short or long periods of time.

The residential building portion of the fire problem continues to account for the vast 

majority of civilian casualties. National estimates show that, on average from 2006 to 

2015, 96 percent of residential structure fires, 97 percent of associated deaths, 98 percent 

of injuries, and 96 percent of dollar losses occurred in residential buildings. Because 

the majority of structure fires and losses occurred in buildings, the remainder of the 

residential analyses will focus on building fires and their associated losses.

All residential buildings

Overall, residential buildings include one- and two-family, multifamily, and other 

residential buildings.50 Annually, from 2006 to 2015, there were an estimated 375,900 

residential building fires. Because these fires resulted in an annual average of 2,585 civilian 

deaths, 12,800 injuries, and $7.5 billion in property loss (adjusted to 2015 dollars) over the 

10 years, the fire problem in U.S. residences is of significant concern.51

Figure 9 shows the 10-year trends for the overall residential building fires and losses. From 

2006 to 2015, trends in residential building fires and losses showed a 2 percent decrease 

in fires, a 2 percent increase in deaths, a 9 percent decrease in injuries, and an 18 percent 

decrease in dollar loss.

50The USFA’s three topical reports that explore facets of the current residential building fire problem, 

“Residential Building Fires (2013-2015),” “One- and Two-Family Residential Building Fires (2013-2015),” and 

“Multifamily Residential Building Fires (2013-2015),” are available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/

reports.html. 51The USFA’s Residential Building Fires Estimate Summary Series (2006 to 2015) is available at https://www.

usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/res_bldg_fire_estimates.pdf. To download an Excel file of residential 

building fire and fire loss estimates by property use and cause, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/

order_download_data.html (located under the section “Download select data sets”).
The National Fire Problem 49

Figure 9. Trends in residential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Residential building fires (in thousands) Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 392.7

2007 390.3

2008 378.2

2009 356.2

2010 362.1

2011 364.5

2012 374.0

2013 380.3

2014 379.5

2015 380.9

10-year 

trend (%) -1.7%

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Residential building fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 2,490

2007 2,765

2008 2,650

2009 2,480

2010 2,555

2011 2,450

2012 2,385

2013 2,755

2014 2,765

2015 2,565

10-year 

trend (%) 1.7%
50 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 9. Trends in residential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015) — 

continued

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Residential building fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 12,550

2007 13,525

2008 13,100

2009 12,600

2010 13,275

2011 13,900

2012 13,050

2013 12,450

2014 12,075

2015 11,475

10-year 

trend (%) -8.6%

$0.0

$2,000.0

$4,000.0

$6,000.0

$8,000.0

$10,000.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Residential building fire dollar loss (in $M)* Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $7,813

2007 $8,182

2008 $8,831

2009 $8,021

2010 $7,225

2011 $7,009

2012 $7,333

2013 $6,996

2014 $6,909

2015 $7,099

10-year 

trend (%) -17.7%

Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.
The National Fire Problem 51

One- and two-family residential buildings

One- and two-family dwellings are where 74 percent of the people in the U.S. reside.52

The residential building fire profile is, therefore, dominated by this category. One- and 

two-family residential buildings include detached dwellings, manufactured homes, mobile 

homes not in transit, and duplexes.

From 2006 to 2015, one- and two-family residential building fires accounted for 65 percent 

of all residential building fires and dominated the overall residential building fire profile. 

Trends in one- and two-family dwellings showed a 5 percent decrease in fires, a 3 percent 

increase in deaths, a 13 percent decrease in injuries, and a 22 percent decrease in dollar 

loss from 2006 to 2015 (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Trends in one- and two-family residential building fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

One- and two-family residential building fires 

(in thousands)

Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 253.8

2007 260.7

2008 250.4

2009 234.1

2010 236.9

2011 237.7

2012 242.7

2013 244.7

2014 244.0

2015 242.3

10-year 

trend (%) -4.8%

52The U.S. Census Bureau shows that, in 2015, 76.2 percent of occupied housing units were one-unit attached 

and detached structures or mobile homes (90.1 million), HUD and U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Housing 

Survey — Table Creator, select “2015 (Year) General Housing (Table); Units by Structure Type (Variable 1),” 

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data/interactive/ahstablecreator.html#?s_areas=a00000&s_

year=n2015&s_tableName=Table1&s_byGroup1=a3&s_byGroup2=a1&s_filterGroup1=t1&s_filterGroup2=g1 

(accessed Aug. 14, 2017). Household size was estimated at 2.65 people per household (https://factfinder.census.

gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_1YR_DP02&prodType= table, Selected Social 

Characteristics in the U.S., 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates). Thus, 90.1 million housing 

units x 2.65 people per household = 238.8 million people. With the 2015 U.S. population given as 320.9 million, 

(https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2016/demo/popest/nation-total.html, Table 1. Annual Estimates of the 

Resident Population for the U.S., Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2016 (NST-EST2016-01)), 

approximately 74.4 percent of the population lived in what the NFIRS defines as one- and two-family housing.
52 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 10. Trends in one- and two-family residential building fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015) — continued

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

One- and two-family residential building 

fire deaths

Deaths

Year Value

2006 1,925

2007 2,285

2008 2,160

2009 1,965

2010 2,025

2011 1,945

2012 1,885

2013 2,250

2014 2,195

2015 2,085

10-year 

trend (%) 2.5%

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

One- and two-family residential building 

fire injuries

Injuries

Year Value

2006 8,225

2007 9,125

2008 8,400

2009 8,125

2010 8,525

2011 8,925

2012 8,300

2013 7,975

2014 7,550

2015 7,200

10-year 

trend (%) -13.3%
The National Fire Problem 53

Figure 10. Trends in one- and two-family residential building fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015) — continued 

$0.0

$1,000.0

$2,000.0

$3,000.0

$4,000.0

$5,000.0

$6,000.0

$7,000.0

$8,000.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

One- and two-family residential building 

fire dollar loss (in $M)*

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $6,088

2007 $6,578

2008 $6,779

2009 $6,297

2010 $5,745

2011 $5,409

2012 $5,711

2013 $5,280

2014 $5,208

2015 $5,292

10-year 

trend (%) -21.9%

Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.

Multifamily residential buildings

Multifamily residential buildings include structures, such as apartments, town houses, 

row houses, condominiums, and other tenement properties. Many multifamily dwellings 

are rental properties, which often fall under more stringent fire prevention statutes and 

tend to be regulated by stricter building codes. From 2006 to 2015, multifamily residential 

building fires accounted for 28 percent of all residential building fires responded to by fire 

departments across the nation.

From 2006 to 2015, trends in multifamily dwellings showed a 2 percent increase in fires, a 

3 percent decrease in deaths, a 3 percent increase in injuries, and a 1 percent increase in 

dollar loss (Figure 11). The increase in multifamily dwelling fire injuries is surprising given 

that multifamily buildings tend to have stricter building codes, including the presence of 

smoke alarms and sprinkler systems.
54 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 11. Trends in multifamily residential building fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Multifamily residential building fires

(in thousands)

Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 113.9

2007 104.6

2008 104.1

2009 100.2

2010 102.7

2011 102.8

2012 106.0

2013 109.3

2014 108.7

2015 111.1

10-year 

trend (%) 2.4%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Multifamily residential building fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 455

2007 405

2008 395

2009 375

2010 425

2011 390

2012 400

2013 390

2014 440

2015 390

10-year 

trend (%) -3.1%
The National Fire Problem 55

Figure 11. Trends in multifamily residential building fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015) — continued

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Multifamily residential building fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 3,725

2007 3,875

2008 4,200

2009 4,050

2010 4,250

2011 4,450

2012 4,325

2013 3,975

2014 4,100

2015 3,825

10-year 

trend (%) 3.2%

Multifamily residential building fire 

dollar loss (in $M)*

$0.0

$200.0

$400.0

$600.0

$800.0

$1,000.0

$1,200.0

$1,400.0

$1,600.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $1,374

2007 $1,265

2008 $1,482

2009 $1,365

2010 $1,189

2011 $1,293

2012 $1,280

2013 $1,349

2014 $1,344

2015 $1,426

10-year 

trend (%) 0.8%

 Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.
56 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Other residential buildings

Other residential buildings include rooming houses, dormitories, residential hotels, 

halfway houses, hotels and motels, and miscellaneous and unclassified buildings 

reported as residences. This category does not include nursing homes, prisons or other 

institutions; these categories are addressed as part of nonresidential buildings. Trends 

in other residential buildings showed a 14 percent increase in fires, a 6 percent increase 

in deaths, a 24 percent decrease in injuries, and a 9 percent decrease in dollar loss from 

2006 to 2015 (Figure 12).

Figure 12. Trends in other residential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other residential building fires (in thousands) Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 25.0

2007 25.0

2008 23.7

2009 21.8

2010 22.5

2011 24.0

2012 25.3

2013 26.2

2014 26.8

2015 27.4

10-year 

trend (%) 13.8%

0

40

80

120

160

200

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other residential building fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 125

2007 80

2008 90

2009 140

2010 105

2011 115

2012 100

2013 120

2014 130

2015 95

10-year 

trend (%) 6.1%
The National Fire Problem 57

Figure 12. Trends in other residential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015) — 

continued

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other residential building fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 600

2007 525

2008 525

2009 425

2010 500

2011 525

2012 425

2013 500

2014 425

2015 425

10-year 

trend (%) -23.5%

$0.0

$100.0

$200.0

$300.0

$400.0

$500.0

$600.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other residential building fire dollar loss 

(in $M)*

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $350.5

2007 $338.7

2008 $569.7

2009 $358.6

2010 $290.8

2011 $307.1

2012 $341.6

2013 $367.0

2014 $357.4

2015 $381.3

10-year 

trend (%) -9.1%

Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.
58 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Nonresidential buildings

The nonresidential building category includes industrial and commercial properties, 

institutions (such as hospitals, nursing homes and prisons), educational establishments 

(from preschool through university), mobile properties, and storage properties. National 

estimates show that, on average from 2006 to 2015, about 89 percent of nonresidential 

structure fires, 89 percent of deaths, 92 percent of injuries, and 91 percent of dollar losses 

occurred in nonresidential buildings.

National estimates of nonresidential building fires and losses, from 2006 to 2015, annually 

accounted for only 7 percent of all fires, 2 percent of deaths, and 8 percent of injuries. 

These properties, however, accounted for a disproportionately large annual dollar loss — 

22 percent.53 Trends in nonresidential buildings showed a 1 percent increase in fires, a 30 

percent decrease in deaths, a 1 percent decrease in injuries, and a 23 percent decrease 

in dollar loss from 2006 to 2015 (Figure 13).

Figure 13. Trends in nonresidential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Nonresidential building fires (in thousands) Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 98.9

2007 103.0

2008 97.1

2009 89.2

2010 84.9

2011 85.4

2012 92.8

2013 93.7

2014 99.5

2015 104.6

10-year 

trend (%) 1.2%

53The USFA’s Nonresidential Building Fires Estimate Summary Series (2006 to 2015) is available at https://

www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/nonres_bldg_fire_estimates.pdf. To download an Excel file of 

nonresidential building fire and fire loss estimates by property use and cause, visit https://www.usfa.fema.

gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.html (located under the section “Download select data sets”).
The National Fire Problem 59

Figure 13. Trends in nonresidential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015) — 

continued

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Nonresidential building fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 75

2007 90

2008 100

2009 90

2010 80

2011 80

2012 65

2013 65

2014 60

2015 70

10-year 

trend (%) -30.2%

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Nonresidential building fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 1,350

2007 1,275

2008 1,250

2009 1,500

2010 1,375

2011 1,100

2012 1,450

2013 1,425

2014 1,200

2015 1,325

10-year 

trend (%) -1.2%
60 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 13. Trends in nonresidential building fires and fire losses (2006-2015) — 

continued

$0.0

$500.0

$1,000.0

$1,500.0

$2,000.0

$2,500.0

$3,000.0

$3,500.0

$4,000.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Nonresidential building fire dollar loss 

(in $M)*

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $2,757

2007 $3,278

2008 $3,800

2009 $3,049

2010 $2,610

2011 $2,567

2012 $2,551

2013 $2,504

2014 $2,579

2015 $2,691

10-year 

trend (%) -23.0%

Sources: NFPA, NFIRS and CPI.

Note:	 The NFPA estimate of dollar loss in 2008 reflects three industrial property fire incidents that resulted in $775 million in

property damage.

Vehicles and other mobile properties

Overall, mobile properties are comprised of vehicles and other mobile properties, which 

include passenger vehicles, construction vehicles, motor homes, recreational vehicles, 

farm machinery, trains, boats, ships and aircraft. Vehicle fires account for a larger portion 

of the fire problem than many people realize. In 2015, vehicles accounted for 18 percent 

of fire deaths overall, 8 percent of fire injuries, 14 percent of dollar losses, and 15 percent 

of all fires reported to NFIRS — approximately 1 in every 7 fires.54

Figures 14 and 15 show the 10-year trends for mobile property fires and losses. Trends in 

overall mobile property fires and fire deaths declined over the 10 years. Figure 15 shows 

that the vast majority of mobile property fires and losses are from highway vehicles. 

Trends in highway vehicles showed a 33 percent decrease in fires, an 8 percent decrease 

in deaths, a 3 percent increase in injuries, and a 5 percent decrease in dollar loss (adjusted 

for inflation).

54When there are fatalities associated with a mobile property accident, such as a collision between two cars, 

it is often difficult to determine whether the fatalities were the result of the mechanical forces or the fire that 

ensued. Because of the very large number of vehicle fatalities occurring in this country each year and the 

frequency of fires associated with these accidents, there can be a substantial error in estimating the total 

number of fire deaths if this issue is not carefully addressed. A fire fatality should be counted only if a person 

was trapped and killed by the fire, rather than killed on impact and subsequently exposed to the fire.
The National Fire Problem 61

Figure 14. Trends in mobile property fires and fire losses (2006-2015)

0.0

50.0

100.0

150.0

200.0

250.0

300.0

350.0

Trend

Fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Mobile property fires (in thousands) Fires (thousands)

Year Value

2006 278.0

2007 258.0

2008 236.0

2009 219.0

2010 215.5

2011 219.0

2012 202.5

2013 188.0

2014 193.5

2015 204.5

10-year 

trend (%) -29.4%

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

Trend

Fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Mobile property fire deaths Deaths

Year Value

2006 490

2007 385

2008 365

2009 280

2010 310

2011 300

2012 325

2013 320

2014 345

2015 500

10-year 

trend (%) -4.3%
62 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 14. Trends in mobile property fires and fire losses (2006-2015) — continued

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1,000.0

1,200.0

1,400.0

1,600.0

1,800.0

2,000.0

Trend

Fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Mobile property fire injuries Injuries

Year Value

2006 1,200

2007 1,675

2008 1,065

2009 1,610

2010 1,590

2011 1,190

2012 975

2013 1,050

2014 1,450

2015 1,875

10-year 

trend (%) 8.8%

$1,200.0

$1,300.0

$1,400.0

$1,500.0

$1,600.0

$1,700.0

$1,800.0

$1,900.0

Trend

Fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Mobile property fire dollar loss (in $M)* Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Value

2006 $1,550.7

2007 $1,612.9

2008 $1,644.7

2009 $1,503.6

2010 $1,495.6

2011 $1,422.5

2012 $1,897.4

2013 $1,416.3

2014 $1,523.8

2015 $1,816.0

10-year 

trend (%) 6.1%

Sources: NFPA and CPI.

Note:	 The 2012 and 2015 spikes in dollar loss reflect the $400 million property damage to the USS Miami (submarine) and a

large aircraft fire that occurred at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
The National Fire Problem 63

Figure 15. Trends in highway vehicle versus other mobile property fires and fire 

losses (2006-2015)

Highway vehicle versus other mobile property 

fires (in thousands)

0.0

50.0

100.0

150.0

200.0

250.0

300.0

350.0

Trend

Other mobile property fires

Trend

Highway vehicle fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other mobile property

Highway vehicle

Fires (thousands)

Year

Highway 

vehicle 

value

Other 

mobile 

value

2006 250.0 28.0

2007 227.5 30.5

2008 207.0 29.0

2009 190.5 28.5

2010 184.5 31.0

2011 187.5 31.5

2012 172.5 30.0

2013 164.0 24.0

2014 167.5 26.0

2015 174.0 30.5

10-year 

trend (%) -32.5% -5.3%

Highway vehicle versus other mobile property 

fire deaths

0.0

50.0

100.0

150.0

200.0

250.0

300.0

350.0

400.0

450.0

500.0

550.0

Trend

Other mobile property 

fire deaths

Trend

Highway vehicle 

fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other mobile property

Highway vehicle

Deaths

Year

Highway 

vehicle 

value

Other 

mobile 

value

2006 445 45

2007 365 20

2008 350 15

2009 260 20

2010 285 25

2011 270 30

2012 300 25

2013 300 20

2014 310 35

2015 445 55

10-year 

trend (%) -8.3% 58.3%
64 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 15. Trends in highway vehicle versus other mobile property fires and fire 

losses (2006-2015) — continued

Highway vehicle versus other mobile property 

fire injuries

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1,000.0

1,200.0

1,400.0

1,600.0

Trend

Other mobile property fire injuries

Trend

Highway vehicle fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other mobile property

Highway vehicle

Injuries

Year

Highway 

vehicle 

value

Other 

mobile 

value

2006 1,075 125

2007 1,500 175

2008 850 215

2009 1,455 155

2010 1,440 150

2011 1,020 170

2012 800 175

2013 925 125

2014 1,275 175

2015 1,550 325

10-year 

trend (%) 3.2% 55.7%

Highway vehicle versus other mobile property 

fire dollar loss (in $M)*

$0.0

$200.0

$400.0

$600.0

$800.0

$1,000.0

$1,200.0

$1,400.0

$1,600.0

Trend

Other mobile property 

fire dollar loss

Trend

Highway vehicle fire 

dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other mobile property

Highway vehicle

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year

Highway 

vehicle 

value

Other 

mobile 

value

2006 $1,154.5 $396.2

2007 $1,236.9 $376.1

2008 $1,284.7 $360.0

2009 $1,164.4 $339.2

2010 $1,072.8 $422.8

2011 $1,070.6 $351.9

2012 $1,129.4 $768.1

2013 $1,078.5 $337.8

2014 $1,143.4 $380.5

2015 $1,237.0 $579.0

10-year 

trend (%) -4.8% 42.7%

Sources: NFPA and CPI.

Note:	 The 2012 and 2015 spikes in dollar loss for other mobile property fires reflect the $400 million property damage to the

USS Miami (submarine) and a large aircraft fire that occurred at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
The National Fire Problem 65

Outside and other properties

The “Outside and Other Properties” category includes all fires that did not occur in 

buildings, other structures, or vehicles. In NFIRS terminology, this includes fires that 

occurred outside of structures — either where the burning material had a value or where 

the fires were confined to trees, brush, grass or refuse. A subset of outside fires is wildland 

fires. Grouped in the “Other” category are fires that were not specifically classified or were 

considered to be outside gas or vapor combustion incidents.

Outside and other fires constituted roughly half of all fires. These numbers may not, 

however, reflect the true nature of the problem because of under-reporting and the 

difficulty in setting a price tag on outside fires. Also, many wildland fires are not reported 

to agencies reporting to the NFIRS or to the NFPA annual survey.

Figure 16 shows the 10-year trends for outside and other property type fires and losses. 

The numbers of reported outside fires alone were enormous — averaging 578,400 

each year over the 10-year period. The “Other” category of fires added, on average, an 

additional 100,150 fires to this already large number. Over 10 years, an average of 60 

deaths resulted each year from outside fires, plus the miscellaneous other properties 

not covered elsewhere; injuries averaged 750. Although deaths showed an upward trend 

of 98 percent, this is due primarily to the fluctuations in the small numbers of deaths. 

Injuries showed an upward trend of 19 percent. Dollar loss for only outside properties 

decreased by 30 percent over the 10 years of 2006 to 2015; however, when several largeloss incidents that occurred in 2007 and 2010 to 2013 were excluded from the analysis, 

the trend in dollar loss for outside properties resulted in a 54 percent decrease.55

Estimating dollar loss for these fires is difficult.56 In addition, part of the difference in 

property loss estimates is because the NFPA estimates property loss only for outside 

fires “with value,” whereas the NFIRS permits property loss data collection for any fire. 

Which method is correct? Both are reasonable approaches, but neither may be definitive. 

Moreover, when there are large-loss fires, these fires may not necessarily be reported to 

the NFIRS.

55“Fire Loss in the United States” (2007, 2010 to 2012, 2014), NFPA. There were three large-loss incidents that totaled 

$525 million in damage in 2007; the Fourmile Canyon Wildfire in Colorado, which totaled $217 million in damage 

in 2010; the Bastrop County, Texas, Complex Wildfire, which totaled $400 million in damage in 2011; the Waldo 

Canyon Fire and the High Park Fire in Colorado, accounting for a total of $567.4 million in damage in 2012; and 

the Black Forest Fire in Colorado, which totaled $420.5 million in damage in 2013 noted in the 2014 NFPA report.

56Setting a value for outside fire damage is always a problem. It is difficult to assign a dollar value to grass, tree and 

rubbish fires, yet the damage from these fires often requires labor beyond that of the fire department to clean 

up and restore the area. They also cause aesthetic problems that are intangible. Some outside fires spread to 

structural properties and may be reported as structural fires rather than outside fires with exposure to structures. 

Outside fires can have other indirect costs, such as the financial impact on agricultural communities where a fire 

destroys crops. Forest fires and other wildfires to which local departments are not called will not be reported to the 

NFIRS if the state or federal agency with principal authority for fighting the fire does not participate in the NFIRS. 

To better analyze outside fires, the NFIRS data needs to be complemented with data from these other agencies.
66 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 16. Trends in outside and other property type fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015)

Outside and other property type fires 

(in thousands)

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

700.0

800.0

Trend

Other property type fires

Trend

Outside fires

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other property type

Outside

Fires (thousands)

Year Outside 

value

Other 

value

2006 710.0 130.5

2007 646.5 122.5

2008 594.0 106.5

2009 546.0 103.0

2010 549.5 84.5

2011 597.5 88.5

2012 612.0 80.0

2013 479.5 85.0

2014 513.0 97.5

2015 536.0 103.5

10-year 

trend (%) -23.5% -27.7%

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Trend

Outside and 

other property 

type fire deaths

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Outside and other property type fire deaths Deaths

Year Outside and 

other value

2006 50

2007 45

2008 55

2009 35

2010 55

2011 65

2012 60

2013 65

2014 70

2015 95

10-year 

trend (%) 97.5%
The National Fire Problem 67

Figure 16. Trends in outside and other property type fires and fire losses 

(2006-2015) — continued

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1,000.0

Trend

Outside and 

other property 

type fire injuries

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Outside and other property type fire injuries Injuries

Year Outside and 

other value

2006 850

2007 650

2008 680

2009 700

2010 710

2011 675

2012 825

2013 800

2014 900

2015 825

10-year 

trend (%) 19.4%

Outside and other property type fire 

dollar loss (in $M)*

$0.0

$100.0

$200.0

$300.0

$400.0

$500.0

$600.0

$700.0

$800.0

$900.0

Trend

Other property type fire 

dollar loss

Trend

Outside fire dollar loss

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Other property type

Outside

Dollar loss ($M) *

Adjusted to 2015 dollars

Year Outside 

value

Other 

value

2006 $308.0 $105.8

2007 $808.2 $94.9

2008 $142.0 $103.5

2009 $280.6 $81.8

2010 $448.9 $95.7

2011 $570.0 $79.0

2012 $750.5 $88.8

2013 $529.1 $88.5

2014 $141.2 $96.1

2015 $151.0 $101.0

10-year 

trend (%) -29.5% -5.9%

Sources: NFPA and CPI.

Note:	 The large increase in the trend for outside and other property type fire deaths is due primarily to the fluctuations in the

small numbers of deaths.
68 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Causes of fires and losses

The following sections show, by property type, the fire cause profiles for 2015 of the major 

causes of fires and fires that resulted in losses: fatal fires, fires resulting in injuries, and 

fires resulting in dollar loss.57

Causes of residential building fires

Figure 17 shows the cause profiles for residential building fires and fires resulting in 

losses. Cooking, at 51 percent, was the leading cause of residential building fires. Heating 

caused another 11 percent. These percentages (and those that follow) are adjusted, which 

proportionally spreads the unknown causes over the other 15 cause categories.

The three leading causes of residential fatal fires were other unintentional or careless 

actions at 17 percent, cause under investigation at 15 percent, and smoking at 14 percent. 

The leading cause of residential fires that resulted in injuries was cooking (36 percent). 

Cooking was also the leading cause of fires resulting in dollar loss at 29 percent, followed 

by electrical malfunction at 11 percent.58

57In principle, it is the cause of the fire that results in deaths and injuries which should be analyzed, not the 

numbers of deaths and injuries associated with fire causes.

58Causes of residential building fires are presented in more detail as part of the USFA’s Residential Building Fires 

Estimate Summary Series (2006 to 2015) available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/

res_bldg_fire_estimates.pdf. To download an Excel file of residential building fire and fire loss estimates by 

property use and cause, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.html (located 

under the section “Download select data sets”).
The National Fire Problem 69

Figure 17. Causes of residential building fires and fires resulting in losses (2015)

Percent

Residential building fire causes (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Reported

Unknowns

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 3.4 4.1

Playing with 

heat source 0.4 0.4

Smoking 1.8 2.1

Heating 9.0 10.8

Cooking 42.3 50.8

Electrical 

malfunction 5.4 6.4

Appliances 3.2 3.8

Open flame 3.6 4.3

Other heat 2.7 3.2

Other 

equipment 1.0 1.2

Natural 1.3 1.6

Exposure 1.6 1.9

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

1.3 1.6

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

5.4 6.4

Cause under 

investigation 1.0 1.3

Unknown 16.6 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0
70 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 17. Causes of residential building fires and fires resulting in losses 

(2015) — continued

Percent

Residential building fatal fire causes 

(2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 5.7 10.8

Playing with 

heat source 0.4 0.7

Smoking 7.4 13.8

Heating 3.2 6.0

Cooking 3.7 6.9

Electrical 

malfunction 5.3 10.0

Appliances 1.6 2.9

Open flame 2.8 5.3

Other heat 2.9 5.4

Other 

equipment 1.6 2.9

Natural 0.2 0.4

Exposure 0.7 1.3

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

0.9 1.8

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

9.0 16.9

Cause under 

investigation 7.8 14.6

Unknown 46.7 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0
The National Fire Problem 71

Figure 17. Causes of residential building fires and fires resulting in losses 

(2015) — continued

Percent

Causes of residential building fires 

resulting in injuries (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 4.3 5.6

Playing with 

heat source 0.8 1.1

Smoking 4.3 5.6

Heating 3.9 5.0

Cooking 27.7 35.7

Electrical 

malfunction 5.3 6.8

Appliances 4.5 5.8

Open flame 6.6 8.5

Other heat 4.7 6.1

Other 

equipment 1.0 1.3

Natural 0.7 0.9

Exposure 0.3 0.4

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

1.7 2.2

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

8.8 11.3

Cause under 

investigation 2.8 3.7

Unknown 22.6 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0
72 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 17. Causes of residential building fires and fires resulting in losses 

(2015) — continued

Percent

Causes of residential building fires 

resulting in dollar loss (2015)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 4.8 6.1

Playing with 

heat source 0.6 0.8

Smoking 3.0 3.8

Heating 5.5 7.0

Cooking 22.9 29.0

Electrical 

malfunction 9.0 11.4

Appliances 5.5 7.0

Open flame 5.4 6.8

Other heat 4.2 5.4

Other 

equipment 1.2 1.6

Natural 2.1 2.7

Exposure 2.9 3.7

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

2.0 2.6

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

7.9 10.0

Cause under 

investigation 1.8 2.2

Unknown 21.1 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS.

Notes:	 1. Adjusted percentages (percentages with unknowns apportioned) proportionally spread the fire incidents with unknown

causes over the other 15 cause categories.

	 2. A large percentage of residential building fatal fire incidents reported to the NFIRS (47 percent) did not have sufficient

information to determine the cause of the fire.
The National Fire Problem 73

Causes of nonresidential building fires

Figure 18 shows the cause profiles for nonresidential building fires and fires resulting 

in dollar loss. Due to the small numbers of nonresidential building fatal fires and fires 

resulting in injuries reported to the NFIRS, and the large percentage of fires with insufficient 

information to determine fire cause, the distribution of causes for these fires is not shown.

For nonresidential building fires, cooking was the leading cause of fires (30 percent), 

followed by other unintentional or careless actions (10 percent). The leading causes of 

fires resulting in dollar loss in nonresidential buildings were other unintentional or careless 

actions (13 percent), as well as cooking and electrical malfunctions (both at 12 percent).59

Figure 18. Causes of nonresidential building fires and fires resulting in dollar loss 

(2015)

Percent

Nonresidential building fire causes 

(2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 6.1 9.4

Playing with 

heat source 0.2 0.3

Smoking 1.4 2.1

Heating 4.9 7.6

Cooking 19.3 29.5

Electrical 

malfunction 5.1 7.8

Appliances 2.8 4.3

Open flame 4.1 6.2

Other heat 3.3 5.0

Other 

equipment 3.2 4.9

Natural 2.2 3.4

Exposure 2.8 4.3

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

2.1 3.2

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

6.8 10.4

Cause under 

investigation 1.0 1.6

Unknown 34.7 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

59Causes of nonresidential building fires are presented in more detail as part of the USFA’s Nonresidential 

Building Fires Estimate Summary Series (2006 to 2015), available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/

statistics/nonres_bldg_fire_estimates.pdf. To download an Excel file of nonresidential building fire and fire loss 

estimates by property use and cause, visit https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.

html (located under the section “Download select data sets”).
74 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 18. Causes of nonresidential building fires and fires resulting in dollar loss 

(2015) — continued

Percent

Causes of nonresidential building fires 

resulting in dollar loss (2015)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

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

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Intentional 6.8 9.4

Playing with 

heat source 0.3 0.4

Smoking 1.5 2.1

Heating 4.8 6.7

Cooking 9.0 12.4

Electrical 

malfunction 8.7 12.1

Appliances 4.8 6.6

Open flame 5.1 7.0

Other heat 4.4 6.1

Other 

equipment 4.4 6.1

Natural 3.2 4.5

Exposure 5.7 7.8

Equipment 

misoperation, 

failure

2.9 4.0

Other 

unintentional, 

careless

9.1 12.5

Cause under 

investigation 1.7 2.3

Unknown 27.5 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS.

Note:	 Adjusted percentages (percentages with unknowns apportioned) proportionally spread the fire incidents with unknown

causes over the other 15 cause categories.

Causes of vehicle fires

Figure 19 shows the cause profiles for vehicle fires and fires resulting in dollar loss. Due 

to the small numbers of vehicle fatal fires and fires resulting in injuries reported to the 

NFIRS, the distribution of causes for these fires is not shown.

Unintentional actions were the leading cause of fires and fires resulting in dollar loss in 

vehicles (39 and 38 percent, respectively). In 23 percent of vehicle fires, the cause was 

undetermined after the investigation. Failure of equipment or heat source was the second 

leading cause of fires resulting in dollar loss (22 percent).
The National Fire Problem 75

Figure 19. Causes of vehicle fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (2015)

Percent

Vehicle fire causes (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

22.7 22.8

Cause under 

investigation 10.0 10.0

Act of nature 0.3 0.3

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

20.8 20.9

Unintentional 38.3 38.5

Intentional 4.8 4.8

Exposure 2.6 2.6

Unknown 0.5 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Percent

Causes of vehicle fires resulting in 

dollar loss (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

21.3 21.3

Cause under 

investigation 9.9 9.9

Act of nature 0.2 0.2

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

21.7 21.8

Unintentional 37.6 37.7

Intentional 5.7 5.7

Exposure 3.4 3.4

Unknown 0.3 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS.

Note:	 Adjusted percentages (percentages with unknowns apportioned) proportionally spread the fire incidents with unknown

causes over the other seven cause categories.
76 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Causes of outside fires

Figure 20 shows the cause profiles for outside fires and fires resulting in dollar loss. Due 

to the small numbers of outside fatal fires and fires resulting in injuries reported to the 

NFIRS, and the large percentage of fires with insufficient information to determine fire 

cause, the distribution of causes for these fires is not shown.

Unintentional actions were the leading cause of fires and fires resulting in dollar loss 

in outside fires (each at 43 percent). In 26 percent of outside fires and in 23 percent of 

outside fires resulting in dollar loss, causes were undetermined after the investigation.

Figure 20. Causes of outside fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (2015)

Percent

Outside fire causes (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

14.4 25.9

Cause under 

investigation 2.7 4.8

Act of nature 2.6 4.7

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

2.2 3.9

Unintentional 24.0 43.1

Intentional 9.5 17.1

Exposure 0.3 0.5

Unknown 44.3 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0
The National Fire Problem 77

Figure 20. Causes of outside fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (2015) — 

continued

Percent

Causes of outside fires resulting in 

dollar loss (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

14.2 23.1

Cause under 

investigation 3.8 6.3

Act of nature 2.3 3.7

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

5.8 9.4

Unintentional 26.2 42.7

Intentional 7.5 12.3

Exposure 1.6 2.6

Unknown 38.6 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS.

Notes:	 1. Adjusted percentages (percentages with unknowns apportioned) proportionally spread the fire incidents with unknown

causes over the other seven cause categories.

	 2. A large percentage of outside fire incidents reported to the NFIRS (44 percent) did not have sufficient information to

determine the cause of the fire.

Causes of other fires

Figure 21 shows the cause profiles for other fires and fires resulting in dollar loss. Due to 

the small numbers of other fatal fires and fires resulting in injuries reported to the NFIRS, 

the distribution of causes for these fires is not shown.

Just as with vehicle and outside fires, unintentional actions were the leading cause of 

other fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (45 and 47 percent, respectively). Failure of 

equipment or heat source was the second leading cause of other fires (20 percent) and 

other fires resulting in dollar loss (25 percent).
78 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 21. Causes of other fires and fires resulting in dollar loss (2015)

Percent

Causes of other fires (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

16.3 16.6

Cause under 

investigation 6.5 6.6

Act of nature 2.4 2.4

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

19.6 20.0

Unintentional 44.5 45.4

Intentional 8.0 8.2

Exposure 0.8 0.8

Unknown 1.9 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Percent

Causes of other fires resulting in 

dollar loss (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0

Reported

Unknowns 

apportioned

Unknown

Exposure

Intentional

Unintentional

Failure of equipment

 or heat source

Act of nature

Cause under investigation

Cause undetermined

 after investigation

Cause Reported Unknowns 

apportioned

Cause 

undetermined 

after 

investigation

12.3 12.3

Cause under 

investigation 6.5 6.6

Act of nature 1.2 1.2

Failure of 

equipment or 

heat source

25.0 25.1

Unintentional 47.2 47.4

Intentional 5.6 5.6

Exposure 1.8 1.9

Unknown 0.3 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0

Source: NFIRS.

Note:	 Adjusted percentages (percentages with unknowns apportioned) proportionally spread the fire incidents with unknown

causes over the other seven cause categories.
The National Fire Problem 79

Fire casualties

Fire casualties affect all groups and races, rich and poor, Northern and Southern, urban 

and rural. But the problem is greater for some groups than for others.

Fire casualties across population groups can be assessed in several ways. The simplest 

method is to look at the distribution of the numbers of deaths or injuries across the factor 

of interest. For example, in the case of race in 2015, the number of fire deaths was greatest 

for white Americans and least for American Indians/Alaskan Natives. In the case of age, 

percentages of fire deaths were greatest for those ages 55 to 69, while 63 percent of fire 

injuries occurred among adults ages 20 to 59.

Although these findings are informative, they do not account for differences in the basic 

population groups under comparison. In the case of age, as an age group matures, its 

population of individuals decreases as a result of deaths. In the case of race, there are 

far fewer American Indians/Alaskan Natives, for example, than white Americans living in 

the U.S. As a consequence, it is possible for a group to have greater (or fewer) injuries or 

deaths because the sheer number of individuals for whom it is possible to be injured is 

larger (or smaller) than other groups.

To account for population differences such as these, per capita rates are used. Per capita 

rates use a common population size, which then permits comparisons between different 

groups.60 Perhaps the most useful way to assess fire casualties across groups is to 

determine the relative risk of dying or being injured. Relative risk compares the per capita 

rate for a particular group (e.g., females) to the overall per capita rate (i.e., the general 

population). For the general population in the U.S., the relative risk is set at 1.

Fire deaths

In 2015, according to the NCHS, 3,362 deaths were caused by fire.61,62 The risk of death from 

fire is not the same for everyone. When determining fire risk, geographic, demographic 

and socioeconomic factors all come into play.63

60Per capita rates are determined by the number of deaths or injuries occurring to a specific population group 

divided by the total population for that group. This ratio is then multiplied by a common population size. For 

the purposes of this report, per capita rates for fire deaths and injuries are measured per 1 million people.

61NCHS, 2015 Mortality Data File, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through 

the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program.

62For each reported death certificate in the U.S., the NCHS assigns International Classification of Disease (ICD) 

codes for all reported conditions leading to death. Based on the NCHS mortality data, there were 3,362 firerelated deaths in 2015. These included all deaths in which exposure to fire, fire products, or explosion was 

the underlying cause of death or was a contributing factor in the chain of events leading to death. This latter 

condition is an expanded approach to capturing fire and fire-related deaths. With this current approach, deaths 

where such exposures were a contributing factor (i.e., the death may not have occurred without the exposure) 

can be captured. The ICD 10 codes included in the mortality statistics are F63.1, W39 to W40, X00 to X06, X08 

to X09, X75 to X76, X96 to X97, Y25 to Y26, and Y35.1.

63For more information on U.S. fire deaths, fire death rates, and the risk of dying in a fire, visit https://www.usfa.

fema.gov/data/statistics/fire_death_rates.html. Additionally, the USFA’s topical report “Fire Risk in 2015” focuses 

on how fire risk, specifically the risk of death and injury, varies with age and how other demographic and 

socioeconomic factors weigh upon that risk. This report is available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/

pdf/statistics/v18i6.pdf.
80 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

State profiles

The fire problem varies from region to region and state to state in the U.S. This is often 

a result of climate, poverty, education, demographics, and other factors. Table 8 lists the 

2015 civilian fire deaths, fire death rates per million population, and relative risk by state.

Three states (Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi) and the District of Columbia had fire 

death rates that exceeded 20 deaths per million population. Twenty states, mostly situated 

in the Southeast and Midwest, had death rates between 10.5 and 20 deaths per million 

population. Additionally, 21 states had fire death rates below the national fire death rate 

(i.e., 10.5 deaths per million population). While some state death rates were still high, 

overall, states have made great progress in lowering the absolute number of fire deaths 

and deaths per million population.64

Figure 22 ranks the order of states by relative risk of civilian fire death in 2015. In addition to 

the District of Columbia, the states with the highest relative risk of fire death in 2015 included 

Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. The populace of Arkansas was 2.3 times more likely to die 

in a fire than the general population; however, people living in California, Nevada and Utah 

were 50 percent less likely to die in a fire than the population as a whole. Where relative risk 

was computed, 20 states and the District of Columbia had a relative risk higher than that of 

the general population. Six states — Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Virginia and 

Wisconsin — had a relative risk comparable to that of the general population. In 18 states, 

the relative risk was lower than that of the general population.

Table 8. Fire deaths, rates and relative risk by state (2015)

State of occurrence Fire deaths

Fire death rate per 

million population 

(crude rate)

Relative risk

Alabama 106 21.8 2.1

Alaska** 14 19.0 1.8

Arizona 42 6.2 0.6

Arkansas 72 24.2 2.3

California 214 5.5 0.5

Colorado 36 6.6 0.6

Connecticut 23 6.4 0.6

Delaware * * *

District of Columbia** 19 28.3 2.7

Florida 159 7.9 0.7

Georgia 143 14.0 1.3

Hawaii** 11 7.7 0.7

Idaho** 14 8.5 0.8

Illinois 124 9.7 0.9

Indiana 77 11.6 1.1

Iowa 30 9.6 0.9

64This analysis includes only states where fire death rates were computed. Fire death rates were not computed 

for Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming due to very small numbers of 

fire deaths (fewer than 10 deaths). The fire death rates presented here reflect the crude death rates and are not 

age adjusted. The crude death rate is the total number of fire deaths per state divided by the total population 

per state and multiplied by one million.
The National Fire Problem 81

Table 8. Fire deaths, rates and relative risk by state (2015) — continued

State of occurrence Fire deaths

Fire death rate per 

million population 

(crude rate)

Relative risk

Kansas 46 15.8 1.5

Kentucky 72 16.3 1.6

Louisiana 83 17.8 1.7

Maine** 15 11.3 1.1

Maryland 47 7.8 0.7

Massachusetts 53 7.8 0.7

Michigan 103 10.4 1.0

Minnesota 57 10.4 1.0

Mississippi 68 22.7 2.2

Missouri 114 18.8 1.8

Montana** 11 10.7 1.0

Nebraska 29 15.3 1.5

Nevada** 16 5.5 0.5

New Hampshire** 13 9.8 0.9

New Jersey 56 6.3 0.6

New Mexico 22 10.6 1.0

New York 175 8.9 0.8

North Carolina 142 14.2 1.4

North Dakota * * *

Ohio 158 13.6 1.3

Oklahoma 70 17.9 1.7

Oregon 47 11.7 1.1

Pennsylvania 172 13.4 1.3

Rhode Island * * *

South Carolina 64 13.1 1.2

South Dakota * * *

Tennessee 110 16.7 1.6

Texas 228 8.3 0.8

Utah** 16 5.4 0.5

Vermont * * *

Virginia 87 10.4 1.0

Washington 69 9.6 0.9

West Virginia 34 18.5 1.8

Wisconsin 62 10.7 1.0

Wyoming * * *

United States 3,362 10.5 1.0

*Indicates states where fire death rates and relative risk were not computed due to very small numbers of fire deaths (fewer than

10 deaths).

**Indicates fire death rates should be used with caution due to small numbers of deaths. Per the NCHS, National Vital Statistics

Reports, Volume 60, Number 4, “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2010,” a rate or percentage is based on at least 20 deaths. Rates 

based on fewer than 20 deaths are considered highly variable.
82 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 22. Rank order of states by relative risk of civilian fire death (2015)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

District of Columbia

Arkansas

Mississippi

Alabama

Alaska

Missouri

West Virginia

Oklahoma

Louisiana

Tennessee

Kentucky

Kansas

Nebraska

North Carolina

Georgia

Ohio

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Oregon 

Indiana

Maine

Wisconsin

Montana

New Mexico

Virginia

Minnesota

Michigan

New Hampshire

Illinois

Washington

Iowa

New York

Idaho

Texas

Florida

Maryland

Massachusetts

Hawaii

Colorado

Connecticut

New Jersey

Arizona

Nevada

California

Utah

2.7

2.3

2.2

2.1

1.8

1.8

1.8

1.7

1.7

1.6

1.6

1.5

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.7

0.7

0.7

0.7

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.5

0.5

0.5

Relative risk

Relative risk = 1.0

Source: 2015 NCHS Mortality Data File, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital 

Statistics Cooperative Program and U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Note: Relative risk is not shown for Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming due to small 

numbers of fire deaths (fewer than 10).
The National Fire Problem 83

Age

Figure 23 shows the percentage of fire deaths by age. Unlike relative risk, the percentages 

do not take into account the number of individuals in an age group, and the distributions 

are somewhat different. Fire deaths from ages 55 to 64 accounted for 21 percent of the 

deaths. Children younger than 15 accounted for 8 percent of all fire deaths, while older 

adults (ages 65 and older) accounted for 40 percent of all fire deaths in 2015.

People ages 50 and older had a higher fire death rate than the average population (10.5 

deaths per million population). For people ages 75 and older, the fire death rate was higher 

still — over three times the national average (Figure 24).

In 2015, adults ages 50 and older had a greater relative risk of dying in fires than the general 

population (Figure 25). Moreover, older adults ages 75 to 84 had a risk of fire death over three 

times that of the general population. Those ages 85 and older had the highest risk of fire 

death — nearly four times that of the general population.

People with limited physical and cognitive abilities, especially older adults, are at a higher 

risk of death from fire than other groups. As baby boomers enter retirement age, the 

demographic profile of the U.S. is expected to change dramatically. The older adult 

population (ages 65 or older) is expected to increase from its current 15 percent of the 

total population to 24 percent by 2060,65 with an assumed corresponding increase in fire 

deaths and injuries among older adults. According to U.S. Census Bureau projections, 

by 2060, the number of individuals ages 65 or older is expected to be 98 million — more 

than double the amount in 2015. At the same time, the population ages 85 or older is 

expected to more than triple, increasing from 6.3 million in 2015 to 19.7 million in 2060.66

 With advancing age, physical and mental capabilities of these older adults will likely 

decline, hindering their mobility and making it more difficult for them to clearly see, smell 

and hear. Lessened senses and decreased mobility increase the risk of death or injury 

from fire. 

In the past, children ages 4 and younger were also considered to be at a high risk of death 

from fire; however, data indicates that the trend is changing. In 2009, the relative risk of 

death from fire for children ages 4 and younger was equivalent to that of the general 

population. For the six-year period from 2010 to 2015, however, the relative risk of death 

from fire for children in this same age group was less than that of the general population, 

ranging from 0.9 in 2010 to 0.7 in 2012 to 2015. Although the relative risk of children ages 

4 and younger dying in a fire was 30 percent less than that of the general population in 

2015, children ages 4 and younger faced an elevated risk of death in a fire when compared 

to older children (ages 5 to 14).

65U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Table 6. Percent Distribution of the Projected Population by Sex and 

Selected Age Groups for the United States: 2015 to 2060 (NP2014-T6). Release date: December 2014, https://

www.census.gov/data/tables/2014/demo/popproj/2014-summary-tables.html.

66U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Table 3. Projections of the Population by Sex and Selected Age 

Groups for the United States: 2015 to 2060 (NP2014-T3). Release date: December 2014, https://www.census.

gov/data/tables/2014/demo/popproj/2014-summary-tables.html.
84 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 23. Percent of fire deaths by age (2015)

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

7.4

8.3

9.8

10.6

9.9

8.5

5.9

3.3

4.1

3.3

3.0

2.4

1.3

1.5

2.5

4.1

6.1

8.0

Percent

Deaths (3,362 cases)

Source: NCHS.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.

Figure 24. Fire death rates by age (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

39.5

24.4

20.5

18.7

5.1

4.6

3.6

2.1

2.5

4.1

35.4

33.0

Deaths per million population

National fire death rate = 10.5

15.3

12.8

Deaths (3,362 cases)

9.5

5.5

6.8

6.9

Sources: NCHS and U.S. Census Bureau.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
The National Fire Problem 85

Figure 25. Relative risk of fire deaths by age (2015)

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

3.8

2.3

2.0

1.8

0.5

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.7

3.4

3.2

Relative risk

Relative risk = 1.0

1.5

1.2

Deaths (3,362 cases)

0.9

Sources: NCHS and U.S. Census Bureau.

Notes: 1. Relative risk compares the per capita rate for a particular group (e.g., age group) to the overall per capita rate (i.e., 

the general population). For the general population, the relative risk is set at 1, as indicated by the dashed line in the 

figure above.

	 2. Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.

Gender

As shown in Table 9, more men (62 percent) died in fires than women (38 percent) in 2015. 

The high proportion of male to female fire deaths has remained steady from year to year.

Table 9. Percent of fire deaths by gender (2015)

Casualty type Males

(percent)

Females

(percent)

Deaths 62.0 38.0

Source: NCHS.

Figures 26 and 27 present the percent of fire deaths by age and gender and fire death rates 

by age and gender, respectively. The distribution of fire deaths by age is somewhat different 

for males versus females. Female fire deaths in the 70 and older age group accounted for 

approximately one-third (34 percent) of female fire deaths. Male fire deaths, by contrast, 

were highest for those adults age 50 to 69, accounting for 41 percent of male fire deaths.
86 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

In 2015, males had a fire death rate of 13.2 deaths per million population, while females 

had a fire death rate of 7.8 deaths per million population.67 In fact, males had a higher fire 

death rate per million population than females for all age groups (Figure 27). Males were 

1.7 times more likely to die in fires than females.

Figure 26. Percent of fire deaths by age and gender (2015)

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0

Females (1,279 cases)

Males (2,083 cases)

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

9.5

6.1

9.1

7.9

9.4

10.1

9.6

7.7

11.2

8.8

10.6

8.9

6.1

5.8

3.0

3.4

3.5

4.4

3.5

3.2

2.8

3.2

2.2

2.6

0.8

1.6

1.3

1.6

2.8

2.3

5.1

3.5

7.0

5.6

8.0

7.9

Percent

Deaths (3,362 cases)

Source: NCHS.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.

67USFA, “Fire Risk in 2015.” This report is available at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/

v18i6.pdf.
The National Fire Problem 87

Figure 27. Fire death rates by age and gender (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Females (1,279 cases)

Males (2,083 cases)

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

29.4

58.6

18.8

31.0

14.2

27.6

12.4

8.6

25.7

10.0

20.9

17.0

7.4

11.7

3.8

7.1

4.4

9.1

4.2

6.1

3.3

5.8

2.5

4.6

1.0

3.2

1.7

3.2

3.6

4.5

6.7

7.1

26.3

48.2

46.4

22.4

Deaths per million population

Deaths (3,362 cases)

Sources: NCHS and U.S. Census Bureau.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
88 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Race

Figure 28 shows the fire death rates by race and gender in 2015. White males, AfricanAmericans, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives had higher fire death rates than the 

national average.68 Asians/Pacific Islanders had the lowest death rates. African-American 

fire deaths constituted a large and disproportionate share of total fire deaths. Although 

African-Americans constituted 13 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 21 

percent of fire deaths in 2015.

Figure 28. Fire death rates by race and gender (2015)

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0

Females 

(1,279 cases)

Males 

(2,083 cases)

Overall

Asian/Pacific

 Islander

American Indian/

Alaskan Natives

African-American

White

National fire 

death rate = 10.5

12.8

7.7

20.9

12.0

21.8

7.6

13.5

8.1

5.4

3.2

Deaths per million population

Number of fire deaths

Race Males Females Total

White 1,566 966 2,532

AfricanAmerican 425 267 692

American 

Indian/

Alaskan 

Native

44 15 59

Asian/

Pacific 

Islander

48 31 79

Overall 2,083 1,279 3,362

Sources: NCHS and U.S. Census Bureau.

Notes: 1. The overall male and female population estimates include individuals with “2+ races” per the census. The “2+ races” 

category accounts for 2.6 percent of the population. The NCHS does not include this race category.

	 2. This figure uses NCHS data in the computation of the national fire death rate for data consistency within this chart.

Based on the 2015 NFPA fire death estimate, this rate is 10.2.

	 3. The fire death rate for American Indian/Alaskan Native females should be used with caution due to the small number

of deaths. Per the NCHS, National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 60, No. 4, “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2010,” rates 

based on fewer than 20 deaths are considered highly variable.

Fire injuries

According to the NFPA, in 2015, there were an estimated 15,700 civilian fire injuries. In 

general, the age profile for fire injuries was very different from that for deaths. This 

difference is thought to be the result of both cognitive and mobility issues that affect 

many older adults. As a result, these adults were generally less likely to escape the effects 

of fire and thus suffered fatal injuries.

68USFA, “Fire Risk in 2015,” September 2017, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v18i6.pdf.
The National Fire Problem 89

Age

Figures 29 and 30 show the percentage of fire injuries by age and fire injury rates by age 

in 2015, respectively. In 2015, children younger than 15 accounted for 10 percent of fire 

injuries; older adults (ages 65 and older) accounted for 15 percent. The majority of firerelated injuries occurred in adults ages 20 to 59. This age group accounted for 63 percent 

of the fire injuries in 2015 (Figure 29).

Adults ages 20 to 64, 70 to 74, and 85 and older experienced higher fire injury rates than 

the national fire injury rate (i.e., 48.9 injuries per million population), yet those ages 20 to 

49 have some of the lowest fire death rates. Adults ages 50 to 54 experienced the highest 

fire injury rate at 63 injuries per one million people. Fire injury rates were below average 

for children and teenagers ages 19 or younger and for people ages 65 to 69 and 75 to 84 

(Figure 30).

In 2015, adults ages 25 to 64 and those 85 and older were at the greatest risk of fire injury 

(Figure 31). The risk for injury was lowest for the younger age groups and those ages 75 

to 84. The risk for injury from fire for adults ages 20 to 24 and older adults ages 65 to 74 

was comparable to that of the general population. Although most of the older adult age 

groups had a lower or average level of fire injury risk, there were fewer of them in the 

total population. If their risk continues to be the same, we could expect more and more 

elderly fire injuries and deaths as the older adult proportion of the population increases. 

In the meantime, the focus for fire injury prevention should be on adults ages 25 to 64 

and those 85 or older.

Figure 29. Percent of fire injuries by age (2015)

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

2.5

3.7

4.8

6.3

7.0

8.0

7.6

8.5

8.1

7.4

5.0

2.8

2.2

5.4

1.7

2.4

Percent

7.8

8.9

Injuries

Source: NFIRS.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
90 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 30. Fire injury rates by age (2015)

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

Injuries per million population

National fire injury rate = 48.9

Injuries

61.4

50.5

46.6

51.9

52.9

62.0

58.8

61.9

57.0

51.2

37.2

21.1

16.6

45.7

45.6

56.4

63.0

42.8

Sources: NFIRS, NFPA and U.S. Census Bureau.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
The National Fire Problem 91

Figure 31. Relative risk of fire injuries by age (2015)

0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

1.3

1.0

1.0

1.1

1.1

1.3

1.2

1.3

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.4

0.3

0.9

0.9

0.9

Relative risk

Relative risk = 1.00

1.2

1.3

Injuries

Sources: NFIRS, NFPA and U.S. Census Bureau.

Notes: 1. Relative risk compares the per capita rate for a particular group (e.g., age group) to the overall per capita rate (i.e., 

the general population). For the general population, the relative risk is set at 1, as indicated by the dashed lines in the 

figure above.

	 2. Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.

Gender

The male-to-female ratio for fire injuries was similar to that for fire deaths, except that the 

gender gap was smaller. In 2015, more men (60 percent) were injured in fires than women 

(40 percent), as shown in Table 10.

Table 10. Percent of fire injuries by gender (2015)

Casualty type Males

(percent)

Females

(percent)

Injuries 60.1 39.9

Source: NFIRS.

Figures 32 and 33 present the percentages of fire injuries by age and gender and fire 

injury rates by age and gender, respectively. The percentage distribution of fire injuries by 

age was somewhat different for males versus females. Males ages 10 to 54 had a higher 

proportion of injuries, while older adult females had more injuries than older adult males 

(Figure 32). Males had a much higher fire injury rate per million population than females 

for all age groups (Figure 33).
92 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 

Figure 32. Percent of fire injuries by age and gender (2015)

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0

Females

Males

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

3.6

1.7

4.6

3.1

5.0

4.6

6.8

8.8

5.9

7.9

7.8

9.0

6.4

7.4

7.7

8.1

6.4

8.4

8.1

8.8

7.6

8.5

6.7

7.9

4.6

5.3

2.6

2.9

2.2

2.2

5.9

5.1

2.3

1.2

2.1

2.8

Percent

Injuries

Source: NFIRS.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
The National Fire Problem 93

Figure 33. Fire injury rates by age and gender (2015)

0.0 25.0 50.0 75.0 100.0 125.0

Females

Males

85 or older

80-84

75-79

70-74

65-69

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24

15-19

10-14

5-9

4 or younger

55.5

72.5

46.4

55.3

37.0

57.3

43.2

48.6

61.4

44.2

69.4

78.0

38.1

68.0

47.7

76.5

39.5

78.1

47.3

76.3

43.2

70.4

37.9

63.9

27.7

46.2

16.1

25.8

13.6

19.5

37.9

47.4

43.4

48.8

54.2

38.7

Injuries per million population

Injuries

Sources: NFIRS, NFPA and U.S. Census Bureau.

Note:	 Data have been adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.

To comment on this specific report, visit: http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/contact/dataReportEval? 

reportTitle=Fire%20in%20the%20United%20States%20(2006-2015).
94 Fire in the United States 2006-2015 
Acronyms 95

Acronyms

AFG Assistance to Firefighters Grant

ARC American Red Cross

CPI Consumer Price Index

CPSC Consumer Product Safety Commission

DEBI Data Entry Browser Interface

DET Data Entry Tool

EMS Emergency Medical Services

FAQs frequently asked questions

FDID fire department identification

FY fiscal year

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development

ICD International Classification of Disease

NCHS National Center for Health Statistics

NFDC National Fire Data Center

NFIRS National Fire Incident Reporting System

NFIRS: PM “National Fire Incident Reporting System: Program Management”

NFIRS PM--DAPST “NFIRS Program Management--Data Analysis and Problem-Solving 

Techniques”

NFPA National Fire Protection Association

NOFO Notice of Funding Opportunity

NWS National Weather Service

OMB Office of Management and Budget

PDR Public Data Release

USFA U.S. Fire Administration