New NFPA Report Examines State of Fire Safety

A new report commissioned by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that examines the current state of fire safety finds that, despite a decrease, residential fires remain some of the most dangerous occupancy incidents.

"Fire in the United States Since 1980, Through the Lens of the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem" is an update to the landmark 1973 "America Burning" report, which was revisited in 1980. The 63-page report was compiled by the Fire Protection Research Foundation, a NFPA affiliate.

While it looks at the gains in safety at hospitals, schools, hotels and nursing homes, the new study focuses on residential fires, which have consistently been the largest type of structure fires, leading to most of the civilian fire injuries and deaths. Residential fires have seen a decrease in the past decades, but statistically, occupants in a house fire are more likely to die today than 40 years ago, according to the report.

According to the findings, fire departments respond to a fire every 24 seconds, with an injury during a home fire happening every 43 minutes. A civilian fire fatality occurs every three hours and 10 minutes.

Other findings and recommendations included:

1. Elements of the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem—government responsibility, development and use of current codes, and an informed public— have had an obvious effect on fire prevention and firefighting.
2. Approaching fire safety as a system—instead of as individual parts—creates an opportunity to unravel complex and ongoing fire safety challenges.
3. Fire fatalities among children have drastically declined, but the number of older adult deaths has remained unchanged.
4. States with higher fire death rates correlate with larger percentages of people with disabilities; current smokers; incomes below the poverty line; living in rural areas; or are either African American, Black, Native American, or Alaskan Native.
5. Wildfires are becoming the dominant type of fire resulting in catastrophic multiple deaths.

Researchers examined fire data and other information over the past 40 years to provide a look at what factors have moved the needle when it comes to fire safety. The report also analyzed catastrophic multiple-death fires and wildland/urban interface incidents because of their potential for the significant loss of human life.

“Increasing the understanding of what has impacted fire safety can help identify what needs to be done to further reduce death and destruction,” NFPA President and CEO Jim Pauley said in a statement. “Year after year, we see nearly 3,000 home fire deaths in the U.S., one of the most advanced countries in the world, and the problem is markedly worse in countries that don’t have a fully developed fire and life safety ecosystem yet."

Go to the NFPA's website to read the complete 63-page report. The organization also will be releasing more content and resources related to the report in the coming months.