Age adjusted to the year 2000 standard population. Data have not been analyzed. Data are not collected. Data are statistically unreliable. Age adjusted to the year 2000 standard population.
Fires are the second leading cause of unintentional injury death among children.
Compared to the total population, children aged 4 years and under have a fire death rate more than twice the national average. About 800 children aged 14 years and under die by fire each year, and 65 percent of these children are under age 5 years. Children are disproportionately affected because they react less effectively to fire than adults, and they also generally sustain more severe burns at lower temperatures than adults. Therefore, working smoke alarms can be highly effective in preventing fire-related deaths. If a fire occurs, homes with smoke alarms are roughly half as likely to have a death occur as homes without smoke alarms.