State Fire Death Rates
The fire problem varies from region to region in the United States. This often is a result of climate, poverty, education, demographics, and other causal factors. The following table shows the District of Columbia and each state's fire death rate per capita for 2008 based on the state where the fire death occurred. The national fire death rate in 2008 was 12.0 deaths per million population. States are listed by rate from highest to lowest. The highest death rates in 2008 occurred in the District of Columbia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The states with the lowest rates were Utah, Idaho, and Hawaii.
| State of Occurrence | Fire Death Rate |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 32.2 |
| Oklahoma | 26.4 |
| Arkansas | 24.1 |
| West Virginia | 23.7 |
| Alabama | 22.5 |
| Mississippi | 22.5 |
| Tennessee | 22.0 |
| Louisiana | 21.4 |
| South Carolina | 18.7 |
| Alaska | 17.5 |
| Pennsylvania | 17.3 |
| Missouri | 16.8 |
| Kentucky | 16.8 |
| Ohio | 16.0 |
| Iowa | 15.7 |
| New Mexico | 15.1 |
| South Dakota | 14.9 |
| Georgia | 14.9 |
| Michigan | 14.8 |
| North Carolina | 14.4 |
| Kansas | 14.3 |
| Nevada | 14.2 |
| Indiana | 13.0 |
| Nebraska | 12.9 |
| National Fire Death Rate: 12.0 deaths per million population | |
| Wisconsin | 11.7 |
| New Hampshire | 11.4 |
| Rhode Island | 11.3 |
| Texas | 11.0 |
| North Dakota | 10.9 |
| Virginia | 10.9 |
| Oregon | 10.8 |
| Illinois | 10.8 |
| Maryland | 10.8 |
| New York | 10.2 |
| Arizona | 9.5 |
| Wyoming | 9.4 |
| Colorado | 9.3 |
| Minnesota | 9.2 |
| Delaware | 9.1 |
| Connecticut | 8.9 |
| Florida | 8.5 |
| Maine | 8.3 |
| Montana | 8.3 |
| Massachusetts | 7.6 |
| New Jersey | 7.2 |
| Washington | 7.2 |
| Vermont | 6.4 |
| California | 5.6 |
| Utah | 5.1 |
| Idaho | 3.9 |
| Hawaii | 1.6 |
Sources: 2008 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Data – ICD 10 Codes: F63.1, W39-W40, X00-X09, X75-X76, X96-X97, Y25-Y26, and Y35.1 (3,650 deaths), U.S. Census Bureau population data (July 1, 2008 estimates).
Note: The methodology used to compute these fire death rates is consistent with that used in determining the fire death rates published in the U.S. Fire Administration's Fire in the United States reports. The fire death rates are based on all deaths in which exposure to fire, fire products, or explosion was the underlying cause of death or was a contributing factor in the chain of events leading to death.
