Trends | Causes | Where fires occur | Who fire impacts | Firefighters and fire departments
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) collects data from a variety of sources to provide information and analyses on the status and scope of the fire problem in the United States. Armed with this data, the fire service can use it to:
| Fires | 1,389,500 in 2011 | -19.5% from 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 3,005 in 2011 | -20.6% from 2002 | |
| Injuries | 17,500 in 2011 | -5.3% from 2002 | |
| $ Loss | $11.7 billion in 2011 | -4.3% * from 2002 |
Read our reports on the causes of residential, nonresidential, vehicle and outside fires, and fires in other places.
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| Cooking | 48.7% |
| Heating | 12.1% |
| Unintentional, careless | 5.6% |
| Electrical malfunction | 5.4% |
| Intentional | 5% |
| Open flame | 4.9% |
| Appliances | 4.4% |
| Other heat | 3.5% |
| Smoking | 2.6% |
| Exposure | 2.2% |
| Natural | 2% |
| Cause under investigation | 1.2% |
| Other equipment | 1.1% |
| Equipment malfunction | 0.8% |
| Playing with heat source | 0.6% |
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| Cooking | 29.3% |
| Intentional | 10.5% |
| Unintentional, careless | 9.8% |
| Heating | 8% |
| Electrical malfunction | 6.9% |
| Open flame | 6.5% |
| Other heat | 5.4% |
| Appliances | 4.5% |
| Other equipment | 4.4% |
| Exposure | 4.3% |
| Natural | 4.1% |
| Equipment malfunction | 2% |
| Smoking | 2.3% |
| Cause under investigation | 1.5% |
| Playing with heat source | 0.4% |
Read our reports on where fires occur.
“Residential” is the leading property type for fire deaths (75.7%), fire injuries (79.1%) and fire dollar loss (52.2%).
Read our reports on who fire impacts the most.
| 2011 | Texas, California and Pennsylvania | led the nation in number of fire deaths. |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia, Mississippi and Alabama | had the most deaths per million population in the U.S. |
View statistics on national and state fire deaths, fire death rates, and risk of dying in a fire.
| Deaths | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|
| 61% | 58% | |
| 39% | 42% |
African American males (21.5) and American Indian males (14.8) have the highest fire death rates per million population.
People 85 and older have the highest fire death rate. (49.2)
People 30-34 have the highest fire injury rate. (71.4)
More information on fire death rates for older adults and children.
Read our reports on fire departments and firefighters.
There were an estimated 30,052 fire departments in 2013 (all career: 2,477; mostly career: 1,971; mostly volunteer: 5,797; all volunteer: 19,807).
See: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on fire departments.
There were an estimated 1,140,750 firefighters in 2013 (career: 354,600; volunteer: 786,150).
See: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on firefighters.
| 106 | Firefighters died while on duty. |
| 77 | Firefighters died from activities related to an emergency incident. |
| 55 | Firefighters died from activities at a fire scene. |
| 36 | Firefighters died from heart attacks. |
| 14 | Firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents. |
| 9 | Firefighters died as a result of vehicle crashes. |
29,760 firefighters were injured on the fireground in 2013.
Visit: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on firefighter injuries.
These documents describe the data sources and methodology we use to calculate our fire loss estimates.
“Fire in the United States”
9th-14th editions are available through our Publications catalog
