Cooking Fires in Residential Buildings (2017-2019)
Topical Fire Report Series | July 2021 | Volume 21, Issue 5
From 2017 to 2019, cooking was, by far, the leading cause of all residential building fires and accounted for 51% of all residential building fires responded to by fire departments across the nation. Additionally, cooking was the leading cause of residential building fire injuries. This report describes the characteristics of cooking fires in residential buildings reported to the National Fire Incident Reporting System for 2017-2019.
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.
These topical reports are designed to explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Incident Reporting System. Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information.