SX-FIRE||Home Fire Safety Exchange

Our Home Fire Safety Exchange encourages local governments, Fire Departments, Home Owners Insurance Companies, Community Organizations and Schools to cooperate and spread the message of Fire Safety. Our Fire Safety Exchange focuses on residential safety programs to protect homeowners and their neighbors from the devestating consequences of a house fire.

Fast Fire Facts for Awareness

In 2007 2,900 people died in house fires. A total of 399,000 home fires required U.S. fire departments response. Eighty-four percent of all fire deaths resulted from home fires.Estimates are that there are thousands of fires that are never reported, until it is too late and the neighbors call--don't let this happen to you. Call the fire department for house fires, even if you think you can deal with it.
Every 39 minutes someone was injured in a home fire in 2007 and roughly eight people per day died in home fires during 2007.
A fire department responded to a house fire more than once every minute..
Sixty-three percent of reported home fire deaths happened in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
Winter months are the most deadly. More than 40% of home fires and deaths happened in the months of December, January and February.
Cooking is still the leading cause of home fires and injuries.Next in line are heating, electrical and intentional fires.
Smoking materials(cigarettes,pipes,cigars--etc) caused more than 25% of home fire deaths.
Most home fire deaths are caused by bedroom or living/family rooms fires.

Cooking:Never leave cooking materials unattended.

More than 40% of reported home fires and 36% of related injuries are caused by cooking..
Cooking unattended is the leading cause of cooking fires.

Smoking: Smoking in bed kills.

Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths (more than one in four) in the United States.
There were 142,900 smoking-material fires in the United States in 2006, causing 780 civilian deaths and 1,600 civilian injuries.
The elderly are at the highest risk of death or injury from smoking fires even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
Most items first ignited in home smoking-material fire deaths were furniture and mattresses and bedding.
25% of victims of fatal smoking-related fires are not the smoker who started the fire.

Heating:Beware of Space Heaters

In 2006, heating equipment was involved in 16% of all reported home fires (second behind cooking) and 21% of home fire deaths resulting in 540 civilian deaths, 1,400 civilian injuries, and $943 million in direct property damage.
Space heaters are far more likely to cause fires than central heating--space heaters caused 4% of home fires and 17% of all home fire deaths.

Electrical Fires in the Home

25,100 reported home structure fires in 2006 were caused by electrical distribution or lighting equipment resulting in 370 deaths.
Light bulbs,lamps, light fixtures create more than 5,5000 home structure fires per year.
Of all electrical fires, wiring switches and outlets cause the most home structure fires per year --10,000 home fire structures per year.

Arson/Intentional Fires

From 2003-2006, more than 17,000 intentionally set home fires were reported annually, resulting in 320 deaths and $542 million in property loss.
Roughly half of the people arrested for arson are under age 18.

Smoke Alarms--use it or lose it.

Since smoke alarms became widely available in the late 70s and later mandated by law, there has been a 50% decrease in fire deaths.
People often think they are protected by a smoke alarm. In 2004 a U.S. survey determined that 96% of U.S. households had a smoke alarm, yet between 2003-2006, smoke alarms didn't sound in half of the reported house fires.
63% of reported home fire deaths in 2003-2006 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. False alarm activations were the leading cause of disabled smoke alarms.

Home Escape Planning

While 66% of Americans have an home fire escape plan (PDF, 632 KB) in case of a fire, only 35% of those have practiced it.

NFPA