Child Fire Death Risk

For children under the age of 5, the fire death rate trend decreased 18% over the 10-year period. Children of this age group, however, have the highest fire death rates among children of all ages and, as a result, are at a higher relative risk of dying in a fire when compared to older children.

Prior to 2006, the youngest children (ages 0 to 4) had fire death rates that were slightly higher than that of the general population. Recent data indicate that this trend has changed. From 2012 to 2021, the fire death rates of children ages 4 and younger were less than that of the general population. This decline may be attributed, in part, to an increase in public fire education and prevention efforts. From 2019 to 2021, the relative risk of dying in a fire for the youngest children was 50% lower than that of the general population — the lowest relative risk for this age group since the U.S. Fire Administration began tracking the relative risk of dying in a fire in the mid-1970s.

For children ages 5 to 9, the fire death rate trend increased 8% over the 10-year period. In 2021, however, the relative risk of dying in a fire for children ages 5 to 9 was 0.4 or 60% less than that of the general population, although 10% higher than it was in 2020 when the relative risk was 0.3 or 70% less than that of the general population.

From 2012 to 2021, the fire death rate trend increased 17% for children ages 10 to 14. In 2021, however, the relative risk of dying in a fire for children of this age group was 0.2 or 80% less than that of the general population as it also was in 2019 and 2020. In addition, although the trend in the fire death rate has increased for children of this age group, they still have the lowest relative risk of dying in a fire compared to younger children.