NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 74

analysis of such fires in the November/December issue of
the NFPA Journal.

INTENTIONALLY SET FIRES
NFPA estimates 20,000 structure fires were intentionally set
in 2016, a decrease of 13 percent from the year before. These
fires resulted in an estimated 310 civilian deaths, an increase
of 51.2 percent from the previous year. These fires resulted
in $473 million in property loss, an increase of 2.8 percent
compared to 2015.

Emergency personnel
at the scene of a fatal
apartment building fire
in Maryland. In 2016, 74
percent of all reported
structure fires occurred
in homes. (AP Photo/
Susan Walsh, File)

than 5,000, a sample is selected and stratified by the size of
the community protected. A total of 2,769 fire departments
responded to the 2016 fire experience survey.
Our national projections are made by weighting the
sample results according to the proportion of the total U.S.
population accounted for by communities of each size. Point
estimates are presented in this article, and there is a range
associated with each estimate.
The data and information included in the full U.S. Fire
Loss report are only part of the fire loss picture. A more
detailed and complete report on the
overall patterns and
trends of 2016, available from NFPA's
Research, Data and
Analytics Division,
includes patterns by
region and size of
community, as well
as a more complete
description of survey
methodology. The
full report, including
of all fire deaths,
additional information like the number
occurred in homes,
of fire department
an increase of
responses by type of
call, is available at
nfpa.org/fireloss.
These results are
based only on fires
attended by public
fire departments.
No adjustments
compared to 2015.
were made for unreported fires and
losses, such as might
occur when an occupant extinguishes
the fire. Nor were
adjustments made
for fires attended
solely by private fire
brigades such as
those at industrial and military installation fires, or for fires
extinguished by fixed suppression systems to which no fire
department responded.
NFPA is grateful to the many fire departments that
responded to the 2016 National Fire Experience Survey for
their continuing efforts to provide the data necessary to
make national projections. The author would also like to
thank the members of NFPA staff who worked on this year's
survey, including Steve Belski, Frank Deely, and Jay Petrillo
for editing the survey forms and making follow-up calls to
fire departments, and Helen Columbo for processing the
survey forms.

80.7
percent
6.6
percent

In 2016, there were also an estimated 9,500 intentionally
set vehicle fires, a drop of 5 percent compared to the year
before. These fires resulted in $40 million in property loss, a
decrease of 45.9 percent from 2015.
Estimates of intentionally set fires do not include allocation of fires whose causes were unknown or unreported.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NFPA SURVEY &
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NFPA annually surveys a sample of U.S. public fire departments, stratified by the size of the communities they protect,
to project national estimates of the fire problem. All public fire
departments that have fire response and reporting responsibilities and protect communities of 5,000 or more are included
in the sample. For departments that protect populations less

74 | NFPA JOURNAL * S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7

HYLTON HAYNES, MS, MBA, is a senior research analyst in the Research,
Data and Analytics Division at NFPA.

http://www.nfpa.org/fireloss

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2017