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National estimates
The 2020 national estimates for the leading causes of residential building fires show that there were:
- 192,600 cooking fires.
- 33,000 heating fires.
- 27,800 other unintentional, careless fires.
- 23,400 electrical malfunction fires.
Overall trends
Overall trends in the leading fire causes for the 10-year period of 2011 to 2020 show the following:
- Cooking as the leading cause of residential building fires for the 10-year period.
- A 7% increase in residential cooking fires.
This is likely due to an NFIRS coding edit implemented in 2012. - A 34% decrease in residential heating fires.
- A 30% increase in residential other unintentionally or carelessly set fires.
- A 2% increase in residential electrical malfunction fires.
Leading causes of residential building fires (2011-2020)
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cooking | 166600 | 182000 | 188000 | 189800 | 193400 | 183300 | 191800 | 192700 | 178100 | 192600 |
Heating | 43700 | 45200 | 49000 | 47600 | 41200 | 35100 | 33800 | 35700 | 33100 | 33000 |
Other Unintentional, Careless | 24900 | 21100 | 21000 | 22000 | 24500 | 24200 | 26400 | 28600 | 27200 | 27800 |
Electrical Malfunction | 26800 | 20200 | 23100 | 23900 | 24500 | 23500 | 24100 | 25700 | 24200 | 23400 |