Fires and Burns

Fires and burns continue to be a major cause of unintentional injury death at home. Particularly at risk are the very young and the very old. 

Facts

• 80 percent of all fire deaths occur in the home (U.S. Fire Administration)
• The leading cause of fire deaths is careless smoking (U.S. Fire Administration)
• Having a working smoke detector more than doubles one’s chances of surviving a fire (U.S. Fire Administration)
• 3,675 people died in fires in the United States in 2005 – one person every 143 minutes. While the number of fires increased in 2005 over 2004, the number of deaths decreased 5.8 percent. (National Fire Protection Association).
• In 2005, 106 firefighters died in the line of duty in the United States – down from 117 in 2004 (U.S. Fire Administration)
• Adults 65 and older are more than twice as likely to die in fires as the overall population. (U.S. Fire Administration study)
• People born in 2003 have a 1-in-1,100 lifetime odds of dying due to exposure to smoke, fire or flame. Odds in any given year are 1:86,000. (National Safety Council)