NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 58

Research by Birgitte Messerschmidt
THE GLOBAL
VIEW ON FIRE
RESEARCH
Older, Alone, and at Risk
AN IMPORTANT NEW NFPA REPORT IDENTIFIES A SIGNIFICANT FIRE RISK FOR SENIORS-
A RISK THAT GROWS EVEN LARGER FOR OLDER AMERICANS LIVING ON THEIR OWN
A
little over a year ago, I
began working on a project
to examine how fire
safety in the United States
has evolved since 1980. My
collaborator was Marty Ahrens, manager
of fire analysis services at NFPA, and
together we took a big-picture look at
fire trends over the last four decades-
the successes, the continued challenges,
and the emerging concerns we will need
to address in the years ahead.
The result, with assistance from the
Fire Protection Research Foundation, was
" Fire Safety in the United States Since
1980: Through the Lens of the NFPA Fire
& Life Safety Ecosystem, " published in
June (nfpa.org/fireprogress). Of the array
of topics we addressed, one of the most
troubling is the persistent impact of fire
on older adults.
In 1980, people 65 and over and children
under five shared a roughly equal
percentage of home fire deaths in the
US. But while children under five now
account for just a small fraction of those
deaths, people 65 and over have had their
percentage of home fire fatalities nearly
double. A closer look at the contributing factors revealed a
complex blend of societal and safety issues. One thing is clear:
As the population grows older, and with people wanting to stay
in their own homes as they age, we face a major challenge-
and a significant research need-if we hope to avoid a rising
fire death toll among seniors.
Studies from around the world have found that people who
live alone, regardless of age, face a higher risk of fire death,
and that risk increases as we age. In the US, the number of
people living alone is growing, and a significant percentage
are seniors. According to the Harvard Joint Center for
Housing Studies, by 2038 there will be as many as 10 million
single-person households with someone 80 or older if the
current aging-alone trend continues.
58 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2021
One thing is clear:
As our population
grows older, and with
people wanting to stay
in their own homes as
they age, we face
a major challenge if
we hope to avoid a
rising fire death toll
among seniors.
Disabilities also increase with age
and can affect self-care and the ability
of people to live independently. American
Community Survey data show that in the
US, at least half of all people 75 or older
have one or more disabilities. Our study
found that in 2014-2018, 17 percent of
fatal fire victims who were 80 or older
were unable to act at the time of the
fire. Nearly one-third had some type of
disability.
Housing stock across the country is
also getting older. According to data
from the American Housing Survey,
the median age of occupied housing in
the US has steadily increased since the
mid-1980s. The survey data illustrate that
in 2019, older adults were most likely to
live in homes built in the 1970s. The
age of a building isn't the only factor, of
course; more important is whether the
building is properly maintained. It is
an unfortunate fact that elderly people
living alone in older homes can find it
difficult to keep up with maintenance,
and this can also pose safety risks.
The research needs in these areas are
immense. I admit that I am closer to
being a senior than a teenager, so I have a personal interest in
meeting this challenge. I have spent my career searching for
ways to make our built environment safer from fire, and what
I've learned since I've been at NFPA is that most of the common
causes of fire are related to human actions-or inaction. This
is especially true for fires in our homes, and it is doubly true
when the occupant is an older person. We urgently need dedicated
research to understand these risks and to identify means
of mitigation.
This work will take many forms, but I think we can all agree
that it is unacceptable that growing older should be accompanied
by a higher risk of dying in a fire.
Birgitte Messerschmidt is director of the Applied Research Group at NFPA.
MICHAEL HOEWELER
http://www.nfpa.org/fireprogress
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

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