NFPA Journal - September/October 2012 - (Page 78)

2011 U.S. FIRE LOSS Fires by the numbers 1,389,500 fires were responded to by public fire departments, an increase of 4.4 percent from 2010. 484,500 fires occurred in structures, a slight increase of 0.5 percent. 370,000 fires, or 76 percent of all structure fires, occurred in one- and two- family homes and apartments, a slight increase of 0.1 percent. 219,000 fires occurred in vehicles, a slight increase of 1.6 percent. 686,000 fires occurred in outside properties, an increase of 8.2 percent. Fire frequency Every 23 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the United States. A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 65 seconds, and a home fire occurs every 85 seconds. Fires occur in vehicles at the rate of one every 144 seconds, and there’s a fire in an outside property every 46 seconds. 910,500 and stayed near the 1 million level for each of the next three years. From 1997 to 2002, the number of outside fires remained between 839,000 and 861,500 annually, except in 1999, when they rose slightly, then rose again in 2005 and 2006, before declining between 2007 and 2010 to 634,000. There were also an estimated 187,500 highway vehicle fires in 2011, a slight increase of 1.6 percent over 2010, and 31,500 fires in other vehicles, which also produced an increase of 1.6 percent. Civilian Fire Deaths Based on data reported to NFPA, the 1,389,500 fires reported by U.S. fire departments in 2011 resulted in an estimated 3,005 civilian deaths. This is a decrease of 3.7 percent from the year before. The nature of the decrease is better understood when these results are examined by property type. The number of civilians who died in residential fires in 2011 also decreased, by 4.3 percent, to an estimated 2,550 fatalities. Of these deaths, 415 occurred in apartment fires and another 2,105 occurred in one- and two- family homes, for a decrease of 4.3 percent. In all, fires in the home, which are defined here as oneand two-family homes, including manufactured homes and apartments, resulted in 2,520 civilian deaths, a decrease of 4.5 percent from the year before. Looking at trends in civilian deaths since 1977–1978, several observations are worth noting. Home fire deaths were at their peak in the United States in 1978, when 6,015 occurred. Home fire deaths then dropped steadily from 1979 to 1982, except in 1981, decreasing a substantial 20 percent to 4,820. From 1982 to 1988, the number of home fire deaths remained between 4,650 and 4,950 annually, except for 1984, when 4,075 people died in home fires. From 1989 to 1996, home fire deaths continued to decline, staying between 3,420 to 4,340 fatalities a year. From 1997 onward, home fire deaths have generally continued to decline, with the number staying in the range of 2,520 to 3,200 each year since 2001. Overall, the number of home fire deaths that occurred between 1977 and 2011 78 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 Photograph: AP/Wide World

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