Nonresidential Building Fire Trends (2010‑2019)

National Estimates

The 2019 national estimates for nonresidential building fires and losses show that there were:

• 110,900 fires.
• 100 deaths.
• 1,125 injuries.
• $2,869,800,000 in dollar loss.

Overall Trends

Overall trends for nonresidential building fires and losses for the 10-year period of 2010 to 2019 show the following:

• A 30% increase in fires.
• A 50% increase in deaths. In 2016, in Oakland, California, a fire at a former warehouse that had been converted to mixed-use properties with an assembly area contributed to the peak in fire deaths; 35 fire deaths were reported to the NFIRS as a result of this incident. Excluding these 35 deaths from the 10-year trend analysis results in an overall 41% increase in nonresidential building fire deaths.
• A 14% decrease in injuries.
• A 3% increase in dollar loss. (This overall constant dollar-loss trend takes inflation into account by adjusting each year’s dollar loss to its equivalent 2019 value.)