NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 63
ANALYSIS + RESEARCH
NFPA REPORTS
»
FIRE LOSS
IN THE UNITED STATES
DURING 2015
More than half of all structure fires occurred in oneand two-family homes, while a spike in
highway vehicle fires presents a cause for concern
By HYLTON HAYNES
Every year, NFPA surveys a sample
of public fire departments in the
United States, stratified by the size of
the community they protect, to project national estimates of the country's
fire problem. Based upon the data
we received in response to our 2015
National Fire Experience Survey, we
estimate that public fire departments
in the U.S. responded to 1,345,500
fires last year, a highly significant
increase of 3.7 percent from 2014.
Of these fires, an estimated 501,500
were structure fires, an increase of
1.5 percent from the year before. The
number of structure fires decreased
steadily from 1977, when NFPA began
gathering this data, to 2015. Structure
fires were at their peak in 1977, with
1,098,000, then fell throughout the
1980s, dipping below 600,000 for the
first time in 1995. From 1998 to 2008,
the number of structure fires fluctuated between 505,000 and 530,500
annually before decreasing to 480,500
in 2009. Since then, structure fire
levels have ranged between 480,000
and 501,500.
Photograph: AP/Wide World
We categorize structure fires as residential and nonresidential. Residential
properties include one- and twofamily homes including manufactured
homes, apartments or other multifamily housing, hotels and motels,
dormitories, and boarding houses.
The term "home" encompasses one or
two-family homes, including manufactured housing, and apartments or
other multi-family homes. Homes
are the places
nfpa.org/fireloss
people normally live and » For more details on the fires
that occurred in the United
are much less
States in 2015, read the full
regulated than U.S. Fire Loss report online
at nfpa.org/fireloss.
other residential properties.
Nonresidential structure properties
include public assembly buildings,
schools and colleges, health care and
penal institutions, stores and offices,
industrial facilities, storage facilities,
and other structures such as outbuildings and bridges.
In 2015, there were 388,000 residential structure fires, accounting for 77.4
percent of all structure fires. This was
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 NFPA JOURNAL
63
http://www.nfpa.org/fireloss
http://www.nfpa.org/fireloss
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016
Contents
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - Contents
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 3
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 4
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 5
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 6
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 7
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 8
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 9
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 10
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 11
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 12
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 13
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 14
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 15
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 16
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 17
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 18
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 19
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 20
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 21
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 22
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 23
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 24
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 25
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 26
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 27
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 28
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 29
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 30
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 31
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 32
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - I1
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - I2
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 33
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 34
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 35
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 36
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 37
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 38
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 39
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 40
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 41
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 42
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 43
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 44
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 45
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 46
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 47
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 48
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 49
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 50
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 51
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 62
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 63
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 64
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 65
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 66
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 67
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 69
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 70
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 71
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 72
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 73
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 75
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 76
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 77
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 78
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 79
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 80
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - Cover4
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