Men have been found to consistently outnumber women among fire casualties and do so with even greater disparity for fire victims under the influence of alcohol. Drinking behaviors that are characteristic of various age groups and sexes may explain these findings. Studies have also provided conclusive evidence supporting the deleterious effects of chronic and acute alcohol abuse on the occurrence and recovery from burn injuries. Burn injury victims have been found to be disproportionately likely to have been intoxicated at the time of injury or known to be heavy drinkers. From a physiological standpoint, burn victims with histories of alcoholism tend to have longer hospital stays, more complications, and higher mortality rates as a result of their burns.
Questions still remain as to the extent that alcohol affects fire losses.
Researchers have suggested that alcohol-related unintentional injuries have more to do with alcohol drinking patterns than the total amount of alcohol consumed per capita. Who drinks, where they drink, what they drink, and under what social, cultural, and religious circumstances they drink are perhaps more significant factors than the amount of alcohol consumed. A lone drinker at home is probably at greater risk of a fire emergency than a group of people drinking at a bar or restaurant. Moreover, the number of drinks consumed in a single sitting seems to matter a great deal. Alcoholics have a disproportionately high rate of fire fatalities relative to their percentage of the total population.