NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 64

REPORT SUMMARY U.S. FIRE LOSS 2015 OVERVIEW OF 2015 U.S. Fire Experience NUMBER OF FIRES Public fire departments responded to 1,345,500 fires in 2015, a highly significant 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. Of these, 501,500 fires occurred in structures, a slight increase of 1.5 percent. Of the structure fires that occurred in 2015, 365,500, or 73 percent, occurred in home structures, which include oneand two-family homes, manufactured homes, and apartments. This was a slight decrease of 0.5 percent. There were also 174,000 fires in highway-type vehicles, an increase of 3.9 percent from the previous year. The 639,500 fires that occurred in outside and other properties represented an increase of 4.8 percent. Every 23 seconds, a U.S. fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 63 seconds, and a home fire occurs every 86 seconds. Fires occur in highway vehicles at the rate of one every 3 minutes 1 second, and there is a fire in outside and other properties every 49 seconds. Civilian fire deaths A beach house burns in South Carolina. 64 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 é In 2015, 3,280 civilians died in fires, an increase of 0.2 percent from the previous year. an increase of 1,500 fires from the year before. Of these fires, 270,500 occurred in one- and two-family homes, including manufactured homes, accounting for 53.9 percent of all structure fires. Another 95,000 fires occurred in apartments, accounting for 18.9 percent of all structure fires. There were also 113,500 nonresidential structure fires in 2015, an increase of 5.6 percent from the year before. The 639,500 outside fires or other nonstructure, nonvehicle fires accounted for almost half (47.5 percent) of all reported fires in 2015. These included 297,000 brush, grass, and forest fires (22.1 percent of total fires); 163,000 outside rubbish fires (12 percent of total fires); 76,000 outside fires involving property of value (5.6 percent); and 103,500 (7.7 percent of total fires) other nonstructure, nonvehicle fires. From 2014 to 2015, outside or other fires increased 4.8 percent. Outside and other fires peaked in 1977 at 1,658,500. The number of such fires then decreased steadily to 1,011,000 in 1983 then remained relatively flat through the 1980s. By 1993, the number of outside fires dropped to 910,500, and stayed near the 1 million level for the next three years. In 2013, outside and other fires dropped to a record low of 564,500 fires, the only year these fires have dropped below 600,000. From 2014 to 2015, brush, grass, or forest fires increased 2.2 percent; outside rubbish fires increased 3.5 percent; fires involving property of value increased significantly by 16.9 percent; and other nonstructure, nonvehicle fires increased 6.2 percent. In addition to residential, nonresidential, and outside fires, there were an estimated 174,000 highway vehicle fires in 2015, an increase of 3.9 percent from the year before, and 30,500 other vehicle fires, a highly significant increase of 17.3 percent. Civilian fire deaths The 1,345,500 fires reported by fire departments in 2015 resulted in an estimated 3,280 civilian deaths, a very slight increase (0.2 percent) over the 2014 civilian death toll and the highest number of deaths since 2008, when 3,320 civilians died in fires. We can better understand the nature of this increase by examining the types of properties in which the deaths occurred. In one category, highway vehicle fires, the number of deaths increased from an estimated 310 in 2014 to an estimated 445 civilians in 2015. These numbers exclude deaths due to trauma EVERY 23 SECONDS, A U.S. FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED TO A FIRE SOMEWHERE IN THE NATION if the fire was not a factor in the death. Between 1980 and 2009, the number of highway vehicle deaths has decreased 60 percent. Since the low of an estimated 260 deaths in 2009, the number of deaths from highway vehicle fires has steadily increased to an estimated 445 deaths in 2015, an increase of 71.2 percent over that period. The median number of vehicle deaths of over the last decade is 305 deaths. The number of deaths in 2015 represents a 31.5 percent increase over this median estimate and is a cause for concern. The 365,500 home structure fires (which includes one- and two-family dwellings and apartments) caused 2,560 civilian deaths, a decrease of 6.7 percent from 2014. This includes 2,155 deaths (66 percent of the total number of civilian deaths) in one- and twofamily homes and 405 in apartments or other multi-family housing including condominiums. Deaths in one- or twofamily homes fell 8.1 percent, while apartment deaths actually increased Photograph: AP/Wide World

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016