USFA Report: Three-Quarters of Civilian Fire Injuries Occur in Home
The Department of Homeland Security's United States Fire Administration has issued a report, part of its Topical Fire Report Series, examining the causes and characteristics of civilian fire injuries occurring in residential buildings. The report, Civilian Fire Injuries in Residential Buildings in 2005, was developed by the National Fire Data Center, part of USFA and is based on 2005 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).
According to USFA, nearly three-quarters of all civilian fire injuries occur in the home. In 2005, there were an estimated 13,375 civilian fire injuries resulting from an estimated 376,500 residential building fires.
Thirty-nine percent of residential building fire injuries occurred while victims were trying to control the fire. Twenty-three percent of civilians were injured when trying to escape and an additional 11 percent happened while victims were sleeping.
"Most civilian fire injuries are preventable," said Greg Cade, U.S. fire administrator. "If a fire occurs in your home, it is important to exit your home quickly and leave firefighting to trained firefighters. By establishing and practicing a home fire escape plan, you can help reduce the chances of fire injury or even death if a fire were to occur in your home."
These short topical reports are designed to explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in NFIRS, USFA says. Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information. Also included are recent examples of fire incidents that demonstrate some of the issues addressed in the report or that put the report topic in context.
To access a PDF of the report, Click Here.