Quick Facts From the National Fire Protection Association

• A home fire is reported to a fire department in the United States roughly every 1-1/2 minutes.
• A home fire is reported to a fire department in Canada roughly every 30 minutes.
• Someone in the United States dies in a home fire roughly every 2-1/2 hours.
• Someone in Canada dies in a home fire roughly every 35 hours.
• Three in every 10 reported home fires start in the kitchen, more than any other place in the home.
• Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries in the United States and Canada.
• Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the number one cause of home fire deaths in the United States and Canada. Nearly a thousand people are killed each year in the two countries.
• Nearly half of fatal U.S. home smoking fires start in upholstered furniture.  Non-smokers can help smokers make sure ashes, embers and butts do not fall in or on couches and chairs, and that ashes and butts are doused with water before being thrown away.
• Heating equipment fires are the second leading cause of home fires and of related deaths. In Canada, despite the colder temperatures, heating equipment ranks much lower.
• Each year, two of every three home heating equipment fires in the United States, and three of four related deaths, are attributed to space heating equipment, including decorative fireplaces and chimneys.
• Candle fires are on the rise in the United States. In recent years, candles have been associated with more than 10,000 home fires, more than 150 related deaths, and more than 1,000 related injuries each year.
• Nearly half of U.S. home candle fires start in the bedroom.
• Each year, at least 250 people die in home fires associated with electrical distribution equipment problems such as wiring, cords and plugs, light fixtures, switches and outlets, lamps and light bulbs, and fuse and circuit breaker boxes.
• Over half of U.S. electrical distribution equipment home fires and related deaths involve equipment located entirely or partially in walls or ceilings, which should be checked and fixed only by a licensed electrician.
• Smoke alarms Listed by a qualified testing laboratory are the most effective early warning device available. Having working smoke alarms in your home cuts your chance of dying in a fire nearly in half.
• One-half of fire deaths occur in the six percent of homes with no smoke alarms.
• Automated fire sprinkler systems typically reduce chances of dying in a fire and the average property loss by one-half to two-thirds in any kind of property where they are used.
• According to an NFPA survey, only one-fourth of U.S. families have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan.  One-third of those who have did so for the first time during NFPA's three-year Fire Prevention Week program "Fire Drills: The Great Escape!"

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