At a Glance
Each year, from 2017 to 2019, fire departments in the United States responded to an estimated average of
187,500
cooking fires in residential buildings.
These fires caused an estimated:
165 deaths
3,325 injuries
$444 million in property loss
Cooking was, by far, the leading cause of all residential building fires and injuries.
Confined fires, those fires involving the contents of a cooking vessel without fire extension beyond the vessel, accounted for 93% of residential building cooking fires.
In 83% of nonconfined cooking fires in residential buildings, the fires were limited to the object or room of fire origin.
The leading specific factor contributing to ignition in nonconfined cooking fires in residential buildings was unattended equipment (37%).
Smoke alarms and automatic extinguishing systems were present in 67% and 9%, respectively, of nonconfined cooking fires in occupied residential buildings.