Profile of the Urban Fire Problem in the United States

Download

Profile of the Urban Fire Problem in the United States (PDF, 823 Kb)

Executive Summary

This report characterizes the nature of the fire problem in urban areas of the United States. Urbanized areas have large populations, and they typically have higher densities of people and buildings than rural areas. Publications are available that characterize the overall U.S. fire problem and the fire problem in rural areas, but there has not been a recent profile of fire in urban areas.1 This report addresses that need. Using 1996 data on urban fires, this study found that:

Fires that occurred outdoors were the most common type of urban fire reported. In 1996, 42 percent of urban fires were classified as outdoor fires, just under one-third were structure and vehicle fires, and two percent of fires occurred in "other" locations.
The leading cause of outdoor fires in urban areas was incendiary or suspicious origin.
While outdoor fires were most numerous, structure fires accounted for the vast majority of fire deaths, fire injuries, and property loss associated with urban fires.
Non-residential Structures: Fires of incendiary or suspicious origin predominated among non-residential structure fires, accounting for 30 percent of fires.
Residential Structures: Cooking fires accounted for over one-quarter of all home fires. Incendiary and suspicious origin ranked second, followed by heating and electrical distribution.
The leading causes of residential fires were relatively consistent throughout the four major regions of the country. In every region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) cooking fires were the leading cause. Incendiary or suspicious origin was the second leading cause in every region but the Northeast, where heating fires were second.
The leading causes of fatal residential fires were also relatively consistent across the country. Smoking was the leading cause of fatal home fires in every region except the West, where fires of incendiary or suspicious origin ranked first.
A higher proportion of residential structure fires occurred in apartments in urban areas compared to the U.S. as a whole. This is likely due to the fact that more of the urban housing stock is comprised of multifamily housing.
The prevalence of apartments in the urban housing stock may also account for the lesser role of heating fires. Heating fires in rural areas are often associated with chimneys and woodstoves, or other alternate heating devices. Most apartments have central heating only, reducing the risk of fires associated with alternate heating.
A majority (54 percent) of urban home fires occurred where no working smoke detectors were present. Similarly, 69 percent of fires with one or more fatalities occurred in homes not protected by operating detectors. These rates are similar to, though slightly lower than, rates for the U.S. as a whole.