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Residential Building Fire Injury Causes (2014-2023)

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National estimates

The 2023 national estimates for the leading causes of residential building fire injuries show that there were:

2,500 cooking fire injuries.
1,600 other unintentional, careless fire injuries.
925 open-flame fire injuries.
800 electrical malfunction fire injuries.

Overall trends

Overall trends in the leading fire injury causes for the 10-year period of 2014 to 2023 show the following:

Cooking was the leading cause of residential building fire injuries for the 10-year period.
A 37% decrease in residential cooking fire injuries.
A 38% increase in residential other unintentionally or carelessly set fire injuries.
In 2020, there were 64 reported multiple injury fire incidents, 68 in 2021 and 63 in 2023 that may have contributed to the increase in the estimate of fire injuries. The 2020 multiple injury fire incidents included a high-rise apartment building fire in Bronx, New York, with 29 injuries.
An 8% decrease in residential open-flame fire injuries.
A 2% increase in residential electrical malfunction fire injuries.

Leading causes of residential building fire injuries (2014-2023)

Leading causes of residential building fire injuries (2014-2023)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Cooking	4125	3775	3475	3300	3100	3550	3175	3000	2350	2500
Other unintentional, careless	1075	1350	1325	1300	1450	1650	1800	1700	1375	1600
Open flame	1050	975	925	900	975	1000	975	975	850	925
Electrical malfunction	925	850	800	750	825	1050	975	900	850	800

Fire estimate summaries present basic data on the size and status of the fire problem in the U.S. as depicted through data reported to the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident Reporting System from incidents reported by local response agencies. Each Fire Estimate Summary addresses the size of the specific fire or fire-related issue and highlights important trends in the data.

Fire estimate summaries are based on the USFA's National Estimates Methodology for Building Fires and Losses PDF.

The USFA is committed to providing the best and most current information on the U.S. fire problem and continually examines data received from participating fire departments and the analytical methods used to fulfill this goal. Because of this commitment, data collection strategies and methodological changes are possible and do occur. Previous estimates on specific issues (or similar issues) may have used different methodologies or data definitions and, therefore, may not be directly comparable to current estimates.