Fire Statistics - Who's at Risk?
In the U.S., based on 2002-2005 experience data, NFPA (National Fire Protection association) determined that:
* The very old and the very young are at highest risk of death from home fires.
* Males are at a higher risk of death and injury from home fires than females.
* Black individuals are at a higher risk of death from home fires than Whites or Hispanics, who are at higher risk than Asian- Americans.
While children under the age of 5 and adults 65 and older are at highest risk for fire deaths and injuries, almost half (48%) of the home fire victims were between 25 and 64 years old.
From 1980 to 2005, the share of home fire deaths accounted for by
* Children under age 5 declined from 18% to 9%
* Older adults age 65 and over increased from 19% to 28%
The majority of U.S. home fatal and non-fatal fire victims were in the area of fire origin when the fire began. The closer the victim was to the point of fire origin, the more likely it was that the fatal injury involved both smoke inhalation and burns. Fire deaths due to smoke inhalation outnumber deaths due to burns.
More than one of every three (39%) fatal fire victims never wakes up before being injured.
Adults age 20 to 49 and older adults age 75 or over have the highest risk of reported non-fatal injury from home fires. As age of victim increases, physical
disabilities are cited much more frequently than other factors that contribute to injury.
* More than two of every five (43%) people injured (but not killed) in home fires were trying to fight the fire or rescue someone when they were injured.
* Males are more likely than females to be attacking the risk (by fighting the fire or trying to rescue others from it) when injured, while females are more likely than males to be escaping the risk when injured. Cooking equipment continues to be the leading cause of home structure fires and civilian fire injuries. Children under the age of 5 are more than eight times as likely to die in fire caused by playing with heat source than the general public.