Since then, accidents resulting in the destruction of households have occurred due to misunderstanding, miscalculations and misuse of this powerful force of nature. Today, fire is the single most immediate threat to people and residential property. Fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined. Eighty-two percent of all fire deaths occurred in residences. As effective as statistics are in helping drive home a point, they can also tend to be callous.
Society tends to regard statistics as something that happens to someone else.
Make no mistake about it, every one of the 3,570 Americans who lost their lives to fire were anything but a statistic. They were people just like us - part of someone's family. Fire doesn't discriminate by age, race, sex, religion or economic status. To have working smoke detectors and properly charged fire extinguishers isn't enough. You and your family must have an escape plan.