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Residential Building Electrical Malfunction Fire Trends (2014-2023)

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National estimates

The 2023 national estimates for residential building electrical malfunction fires and losses show that there were:

23,700 fires.
305 deaths.
800 injuries.
$1,501,600,000 in dollar loss.

Overall trends

Overall trends for residential building electrical malfunction fires and losses for the 10-year period of 2014 to 2023 show the following:

A 2% increase in fires.
A 19% decrease in deaths.
A 2% increase in injuries.
A 28% increase in dollar loss.^*
The 2022 high-dollar-loss fires included an $11,000,000 apartment building fire in Belton, Missouri.

* This overall constant dollar-loss trend takes inflation into account by adjusting each year's dollar loss to its equivalent 2023 value.

Fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss

Residential building electrical malfunction fires (2014-2023)

Residential building electrical malfunction fires (2014-2023)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Fires	23900	24500	23500	24100	25700	24200	23400	24200	26100	23700

Residential building electrical malfunction fire deaths (2014-2023)

Residential building electrical malfunction fire deaths (2014-2023)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Deaths	325	290	310	200	255	225	200	295	185	305

Residential building electrical malfunction fire injuries (2014-2023)

Residential building electrical malfunction fire injuries (2014-2023)
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Injuries	925	850	800	750	825	1050	975	900	850	800

Residential building electrical malfunction fire dollar loss (2014-2023)

Residential building electrical malfunction fire dollar loss (2014-2023)
Year	Dollar loss
2014	1196200000
2015	1220300000
2016	1151500000
2017	1314900000
2018	1489400000
2019	1440100000
2020	1337300000
2021	1351000000
2022	1553800000
2023	1501600000

Fire estimate summaries present basic data on the size and status of the fire problem in the U.S. as depicted through data reported to the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident Reporting System from incidents reported by local response agencies. Each Fire Estimate Summary addresses the size of the specific fire or fire-related issue and highlights important trends in the data.

Fire estimate summaries are based on the USFA's National Estimates Methodology for Building Fires and Losses PDF.

The USFA is committed to providing the best and most current information on the U.S. fire problem and continually examines data received from participating fire departments and the analytical methods used to fulfill this goal. Because of this commitment, data collection strategies and methodological changes are possible and do occur. Previous estimates on specific issues (or similar issues) may have used different methodologies or data definitions and, therefore, may not be directly comparable to current estimates.