NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 70
E
very year, NFPA surveys a sample of United
States public fire departments in order to
project national estimates of the U.S. fire
problem.
Based upon the data from our 2016
National Fire Experience Survey, we estimate that public fire departments in the U.S.
responded to 1,342,000 fires last year, a decrease of 0.3 percent from 2015.
Of these fires, an estimated 475,500 were structure fires,
5.2 percent fewer than the year before and the lowest since
NFPA began collecting this data in 1977. The number of
structure fires has trended downward over the past 40 years,
falling from a peak of 1,098,000 in 1977. From 1998 to 2008,
the number of structure fires fluctuated between 505,000
and 530,500 annually before decreasing to 480,500 in 2009.
Since then, estimates have ranged between 475,500 and
501,500 structure fires per year.
We categorize structure fires as residential and nonresidential. Residential properties include one- and two-family
homes, including manufactured homes, apartments or other
multi-family housing, hotels and motels, dormitories, and
70 | NFPA JOURNAL * S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7
boarding houses. "Home" encompasses one- or two-family
homes, including manufactured housing, and apartments or
other multi-family homes. Homes are much less regulated
than other residential properties. Non-residential structure
properties include public assembly, schools and colleges,
health care and correctional institutions, stores and offices,
industrial facilities, storage facilities, and other structures
such as outbuildings and bridges.
In 2016, there were 371,500 residential structure fires,
accounting for 78.1 percent of all structure fires, a decrease
of 16,500 fires from 2015. Of these fires, 257,000 occurred in
one- and two-family homes, accounting for 54 percent of all
structure fires. Another 95,000 fires occurred in apartments,
for 20 percent of the structure fire total. The total number
of home fires for 2016 was 352,000. There were also 104,000
nonresidential structure fires in 2016, a decrease of 8.4 percent from 2015.
The 662,500 outside fires or other non-structure, non-vehicle fires accounted for almost half (49.3 percent) of all
reported fires. These included 298,500 brush, grass, and
forest fires (22.2 percent of total fires); 172,000 outside rubbish fires (12.8 percent of total fires); 88,000 outside fires
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2017
Contents
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - BB1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - BB2
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - Contents
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 3
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 4
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 5
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 6
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 7
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 8
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 9
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 10
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 11
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 12
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 13
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 14
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 15
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 16
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 16a
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 16b
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 17
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 18
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 19
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 20
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 21
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 22
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 23
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 24
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 25
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 26
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 27
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 28
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 29
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 30
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 31
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 32
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 33
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 34
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 35
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 36
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 37
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 38
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 39
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 40
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 41
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 42
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 43
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 44
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 45
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 46
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 47
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 48
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 49
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 50
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 51
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 52
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 53
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 54
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 55
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 57
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 58
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 59
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 60
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 61
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 62
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 63
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 64
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 65
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 67
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 69
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 70
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 71
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 72
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 73
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 74
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 75
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 76
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 77
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 79
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 80
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 81
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 82
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 83
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 84
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 85
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 86
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 87
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 88
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - Cover4
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