Statistics
Data sets and statistics about fires, fire risk, firefighters and fire departments in the United States.
The risk of death or injury from fire is not the same for everyone.
For some groups of people, fire risk is more severe.
Men are more likely to die and be injured in fires.
| Sex | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 61.9% | 60.0% |
| Female | 38.1% | 40.0% |
National fire death rate: 13.1
National fire injury rate:
39.9
per million population (2023)
Our latest reports
Fire Risk in 2022
The risk of death or injury from fire is not the same for everyone. This topical fire report explores fire risk for people living in the United States and why for some groups of people, fire risk is more severe.
Fire Department Overall Run Profile as Reported to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (2020)
Fire departments provide invaluable services to communities nationwide. To understand the full role they play in a community, this topical report profiles fire department run activity as reflected in the 2020 NFIRS data.
Recreational Vehicle (RV) Fires (2018-2020)
This data snapshot provides statistics on RV fire loss, time of alarm, fires by day and month, fire cause, and leading areas of fire origin.
Portable Heater Fires in Residential Buildings (2017-2019)
While portable heater fires in residential buildings were only 3% of all heating fires in residential buildings, their consequences were substantial, accounting for 41% of fatal heating fires in residential buildings. Many of these fires were preventable, as human error was a contributing factor to the fire.
Residential building fire causes
2023 estimate of residential building fires: 344,600
Cooking was the leading cause of home fires in 2023.
| 48.7% |
|
Cooking |
|---|---|---|
| 9.2% |
|
Unintentional, careless |
| 8.1% |
|
Heating |
| 6.9% |
|
Electrical malfunction |
U.S. fire department responses (2023)
Emergency medical services (EMS) calls are by far the leading incident type that U.S. fire departments respond to.
| EMS and Rescue | 65.2 |
|---|---|
| Good intent | 11.5 |
| False alarms | 7.8 |
| Service calls | 7.6 |
| Fires | 3.9 |
| All other | 4.0 |
Source: National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 5.0
Fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss
Fires (2014-2023)
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fires | 1298000 | 1345500 | 1342000 | 1319500 | 1318500 | 1291500 | 1388500 | 1353500 | 1504500 | 1389000 |
Fire deaths (2014-2023)
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 3275 | 3280 | 3390 | 3390 | 3655 | 3704 | 3500 | 3800 | 3790 | 3670 |
Fire injuries (2014-2023)
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injuries | 15775 | 15700 | 14650 | 14670 | 15200 | 16600 | 15200 | 14700 | 13250 | 13350 |
Fire dollar loss (2014-2023)
| Year | Dollar loss |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 14936751107 |
| 2015 | 18381083197 |
| 2016 | 17267212631 |
| 2017 | 28590673956 |
| 2018 | 31063933702 |
| 2019 | 17663054953 |
| 2020 | 25743163668 |
| 2021 | 17943424785 |
| 2022 | 18815925045 |
| 2023 | 23219000000 |
| Fire and Losses | Trends | |
|---|---|---|
| Fires | 1,389,000 in 2023 |
+9.1% from 2014 |
| Deaths | 3,670 in 2023 |
+15.9% from 2014 |
| Injuries | 13,350 in 2023 |
-12.3% from 2014 |
| $ Loss* | $23.2 billion in 2023 |
+16.3% from 2014 |
Source: National Fire Protection Association
Nonresidential building fire causes
2023 estimate of nonresidential building fires: 110,000
| 30.3% |
|
Cooking |
|---|---|---|
| 13.0% |
|
Intentional |
| 12.6% |
|
Unintentional, careless |
| 6.7% |
|
Electrical malfunction |
| 5.9% |
|
Heating |
General property use (2023)
Fires by general property use
| 48.4% |
|
Outside |
| 24.4% |
|
Residential structure |
| 13.1% |
|
Vehicles |
| 9.5% |
|
Nonresidential structure |
| 4.6% |
|
Other |
Source: National Fire Incident Reporting System
fire departments are listed in the National Fire Department Registry.
| Volunteer | |
|---|---|
| Mostly volunteer | |
| Career | |
| Mostly career |