Senior citizens and children under the age of five have the greatest risk of fire death. The fire death risk among seniors is more than double the average population. The fire death risk for children under age five is nearly double the risk of the average population. Children under the age of ten accounted for an estimated 20 percent of all fire deaths in 1995. Over 30 percent of the fires that kill young children are started by children playing with fire.
Men die or are injured in fires twice as often as women.
Lives A working smoke alarm dramatically increases a person's chance of surviving a fire. Approximately 90 percent of U.S. homes have at least one smoke alarm. However, these alarms are not always properly maintained and as a result might not work in an emergency. There has been a disturbing increase over the last ten years in the number of fires that occur in homes with non-functioning alarms. It is estimated that over 40 percent of residential fires and three-fifths of residential fatalities occur in homes with no smoke alarms.