NFPA Journal - September/October 2012 - (Page 77)

in the United States During 2011 Civilian deaths and injuries fell slightly, but notable increases were reported for the number of outside fires and resulting property losses By MichaeL J. Karter, Jr. Fire Loss In 2011, publIc fIre departments responded to 1,389,500 fires in the united states, according to estimates based on data nfpa received from fire departments responding to its 2011 national fire experience survey. this represents an increase of 4.4 percent from the year before. an estimated 484,500 structure fires were reported to fire departments in 2011, a slight increase of 0.5 percent, or virtually no change from the year before. from 1977 through 2011, the number of structure fires peaked in 1977 when 1,098,000 fires occurred, then decreased steadily, particularly in the 1980s, to 688,000 by the end of 1989, for an overall decrease of 37.3 percent from 1977. structure fires continued to decrease steadily, to 517,500 by the end of 1998, for an overall decrease of 24.7 percent. they remained between 505,000 and 530,500 from 1999 to 2008, before decreasing in 2009 to 480,500 and increasing slightly in 2010 and 2011. Of the 2011 structure fires, 386,000 were residential fires, accounting for 80 percent of all structure fires, a slight increase of 0.5 percent from 2010. Of the residential structure fires, 274,500 occurred in one- and two-family homes, accounting for 56.7 percent of all structure fires. another 95,500 occurred in apartments, accounting for 19.7 percent of all structure fires. for nonresidential structure fires, some property types showed notable changes compared to 2010: there were 6,500 fires involving institutional properties, an increase of 18.2 percent, and 10,000 fires involving industrial properties, an increase of 11.1 percent. In 2011, 686,000 outside fires were reported, an increase of 8.2 percent over 2010. Of the 2011 outside fires, an estimated 338,000 were brush, grass, and wildland fires, a significant increase of 11.2 percent from the year before. there were also an estimated 79,000 fires outside of structures with value involved, a significant increase of 9 percent from the year before. from 1977 through 2011, the number of outside fires was at its highest in 1977 when 1,658,500 occurred. the number of outside fires decreased steadily over the next six years, to 1,011,000 in 1983, representing a considerable decrease of 39 percent from 1977. annual totals of outside fires changed little for the rest of the 1980s, except in 1988 when 1,214,000 occurred. In 1993, the number of outside fires dropped to ONLINE For the complete report, including a description of the survey methodology, visit nfpa.org/fireloss. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 NFPA JOURNAL 77 http://www.nfpa.org/fireloss

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2012

NFPA Journal - September/October 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Lessons of Comayagua
After Waldo Canyon
Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires in 2011
Fire Loss in the United States in 2011
Section Spotlight
Research + Analysis
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - September/October 2012