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# Residential Building Fire Dollar-Loss Causes (2012‑2021)

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## Main content

##### In this section

                - Reports
                - Death & Injury Risk
                - Residential Fires                   - Causes
                  - Deaths
                  - Injuries
                  - Dollar Loss
                  - Cause Under Investigation
                  - Cooking
                  - Electrical Malfunction
                  - Heating
                  - Intentional
                  - Open Flame
                  - Smoking
                  - Unintentional/Careless
                - Nonresidential Fires
                - Outside & Vehicle Fires
                - Firefighter Fatalities
                - Fire Department Registry
                - State Statistics
                - Data Sets

## National estimates

The 2021 national estimates for the leading causes of residential building fire dollar loss show that there was:
              - $1,943,300,000 loss from other unintentional, careless fires.
              - $1,201,500,000 loss from electrical malfunction fires.
              - $701,800,000 loss from open-flame fires.

## Overall trends

Overall trends in the leading fire dollar loss* causes for the 10-year period of 2012 to 2021 show the following:
              - Other unintentional, careless was the leading cause of residential fire dollar loss for the 10-year period.
              -  A 58% increase in residential other unintentionally or carelessly set fire dollar loss.  In 2018, there were 33 incidents with a reported dollar loss of $1,000,000 or more, 30 in 2019, 24 in 2020 and 42 in 2021. These incidents may have contributed to the continued increase in fire dollar loss. The 2021 high-dollar loss fires included a $20,000,000 large residential fire in Palo Alto, California.
              - A 27% increase in residential electrical malfunction fire dollar loss.  In 2018 there were 32 incidents with a reported dollar loss of $1,000,000 or more, 14 in 2019, 13 in 2020 and 23 in 2021.These incidents may have contributed to the continued increase in fire dollar loss. The 2019 high-dollar-loss fires included a $26,400,000 hotel fire in New Orleans, Louisiana.
              - A 5% increase in residential open-flame fire dollar loss.
              - An $80,000,000 under-construction apartment and hotel complex fire in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to the peak in the 2020 residential intentionally set fire dollar loss.
              - The spike in the 2016 residential exposure fire dollar loss is attributed in part to the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, wildfires.

### Leading causes of residential building fire dollar loss (2012-2021)

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Fire estimate summaries present basic data on the size and status of the fire problem in the U.S. as depicted through data reported to the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident Reporting System from incidents reported by local response agencies. Each Fire Estimate Summary addresses the size of the specific fire or fire-related issue and highlights important trends in the data.

Fire estimate summaries are based on the USFA's National Estimates Methodology for Building Fires and Losses PDF. The USFA is committed to providing the best and most current information on the U.S. fire problem and continually examines data received from participating fire departments and the analytical methods used to fulfill this goal. Because of this commitment, data collection strategies and methodological changes are possible and do occur. Previous estimates on specific issues (or similar issues) may have used different methodologies or data definitions and, therefore, may not be directly comparable to current estimates.

Page last reviewed: April 28, 2023

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