Fire Injury Risk (2023)
In 2023:
In 2023, people ages 50 to 54 and 70 to 74 had the highest fire injury rates and relative risk of fire injury.
Children ages 5 to 9 had the lowest fire injury rate and relative risk of fire injury.
Fire injuries by sex:
| Males | 60% | |
|---|---|---|
| Females | 40% |
Fire injury rates per million population and relative risk by age group (2023)
National fire injury rate in 2023: 39.9 per million population
| Age (based on 13,350 injuries) | Fire injuries (%) | Fire injuries per million population | Relative risk of fire injury |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or younger | 4.0 | 28.7 | 0.7 |
| 5-9 | 1.7 | 11.6 | 0.3 |
| 10-14 | 2.6 | 16.7 | 0.4 |
| 15-19 | 4.4 | 26.8 | 0.7 |
| 20-24 | 6.0 | 36.6 | 0.9 |
| 25-29 | 7.0 | 42.4 | 1.1 |
| 30-34 | 8.7 | 49.5 | 1.2 |
| 35-39 | 8.1 | 48.0 | 1.2 |
| 40-44 | 7.8 | 47.6 | 1.2 |
| 45-49 | 6.4 | 42.9 | 1.1 |
| 50-54 | 7.9 | 51.2 | 1.3 |
| 55-59 | 7.2 | 46.3 | 1.2 |
| 60-64 | 7.6 | 47.8 | 1.2 |
| 65-69 | 6.4 | 44.9 | 1.1 |
| 70-74 | 5.9 | 50.9 | 1.3 |
| 75-79 | 3.6 | 42.2 | 1.1 |
| 80-84 | 2.5 | 48.0 | 1.2 |
| 85 or older | 2.1 | 45.6 | 1.1 |
Notes:
- Data were adjusted to account for unknown or unspecified ages.
- The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimated 13,350 civilian fire injuries in 2023.
- The national fire injury rate in 2023 was 39.9 injuries per million population.
Sources: National Fire Incident Reporting System, National Fire Protection Association and U.S. Census Bureau
Understanding this information
Although many regional factors, such as demographics and weather, affect fire issues in the United States, one of the most useful ways to compare fire injuries across groups of people is to look at their relative risk of injury in a fire.
To account for population differences, per capita rates are used. Per capita rates use a common population size, which then permits comparisons between different groups. Per capita rates are determined by the number of injuries occurring in a specific population group, divided by the total population for that group. This ratio is then multiplied by a common population size. For the purposes of this analysis, per capita rates for fire injuries are measured per 1 million people.
For example, the 2023 per capita fire injury rate for the total older adult population (ages 65 and over) is computed from the total estimate of older adult fire injuries (2,749), divided by the total older adult population (59,248,361), multiplied by 1,000,000 people. This rate is equivalent to 46.4 injuries per 1 million population.
Relative risk compares the per capita rate for a particular group to the overall per capita rate (for example, the U.S. general population). The relative risk of the overall U.S. population is always set at 1.
Here is an example that shows how relative risk is used to compare fire injuries:
- The relative risk of a child ages 5 to 9 being injured in a fire in 2023 was 0.3. This means that a child in this age group was 70% less likely to be injured in a fire than the overall U.S. population.