NFPA Journal - September/October 2019 - 88

November 8, 2018, a wildland/urban interface fire
broke out in Northern California's Butte County. The
Camp Fire, as it came to be called, became the deadliest
fire and most destructive in the state's history, killing
86 people and injuring 12, including five firefighters,
and leaving three people missing and unaccounted for. Property damage
was estimated at more than $8 billion.

The Camp Fire was the most severe among the largest-lossof-life fires and explosions in the United States in 2018, which
NFPA categorizes as catastrophic multiple-death fires. These
events are defined as fires or explosions that cause five or
more deaths in a home or three or more deaths in a non-home
structure, or in fires outside of structures, such as wildfires or
vehicle fires. Fatal vehicle crashes with a post-crash fire are
included in this study if a fire in the vehicle caused the crash
or the local coroner or medical examiner confirmed to NFPA
that the victims died of thermal injuries or inhalation of products of combustion rather than impact injuries.
In 2018, 29 fires or explosions were considered catastrophic
multiple-death fires. These events killed 215 people, including
38 children under the age of six. Of those 29 fires, 11 occurred
in homes and accounted for 62 deaths, including 26 children under the age of six. Ten fires or explosions occurred
in non-home structures and accounted for 39 of the deaths,
including seven children under the age of six. Additionally,
eight fires occurred in non-structure settings, including five
vehicle fires and three wildland/urban interface fires, and
accounted for 114 deaths, including five children under the
age of six.
Catastrophic multiple-death fires are an important part
of the nation's overall fire picture. In 2018, firefighters in the
US responded to an estimated 1,318,500 fires. An estimated
499,000 of those occurred in structures, and an estimated
819,500 occurred outside of structures or in vehicles. These
fires accounted for an estimated 3,655 deaths, 2,910 of which
occurred in structures and 745 in non-structure, vehicle, or
outside fires. The 29 catastrophic multiple-death fires in this
report accounted for 0.002 percent of the total estimated fires
in 2018, while the 214 deaths accounted for 5.9 percent of the
total fire deaths in the US last year.
This is the second consecutive year where a wildland/urban
interface fire topped the list of catastrophic multiple-death
fires. In 2017, a wildfire killed 44 people.

Catastrophic home fires
There were 11 catastrophic multiple-death home fires in 2018,
compared to 14 the year before. Seven of those 2018 fires
occurred in single-family homes, one occurred in a two-family
home, and three occurred in apartment buildings. Home fires
killed 62 people, 22 fewer than in the previous year. Of the
victims, 26 were children under the age of six, five more than
the previous year. One fire killed 10 people, two fires killed six
people each, and eight fires killed five each.

88 | NFPA JOURNAL * S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9

The largest multiple-death home fire in 2018 was also the
year's largest-loss-of-life structure fire, and occurred in a
two-family house in Illinois. The fire killed 10 people, including four children under the age of six. This fire, which is still
under investigation, broke out at 3:54 a.m. on an exterior
stairway of the two-story home, which was of unprotected
ordinary construction. No information on detection or suppression equipment was reported.
The first six-fatality home fire occurred in Tennessee in
April. At 5:24 a.m., a passing motorist called 911 to report
a house fire. Responding firefighters arrived in six minutes
and found a one-story, wood-framed, single-family home
that was heavily involved in fire. This home was equipped
with smoke alarms, but it was not reported if they operated.
Firefighters found two vehicles in the driveway, but no one
was outside to meet the firefighters, leading them to believe
the family was still inside. Hose lines were stretched and
firefighting operations began. Search and rescue operations
were initiated when the fire was knocked down. The victims
were located and removed, and CPR was initiated by firefighters and EMS personnel.
The second fire occurred in Indiana. At about 1:50 a.m., an
occupant in the home called 911 to report the fire. Responding
firefighters found a fully involved two-story, wood-framed,
single-family home. The home had no smoke alarms. The fire
broke out in the kitchen and spread throughout the first floor.
Heat and smoke vented up an open stairway to the second
floor where the occupants were sleeping. Interior firefighting
operations were initiated, but minutes later the roof collapsed
and firefighters were forced to withdraw to a defensive attack
on the fire. The cause of the fire was not reported.
The remaining home fires, each resulting in five fatalities,
broke out in five single-family homes and three apartment
buildings. (The number of units was not reported in any of
the apartment fires.) Eighteen of the 40 victims were children
under the age of six. Three of these homes are known to have
had smoke alarms and two were known to have no detectors
installed. The alarms did not operate in any of the homes with
smoke alarms, with the reasons not reported.
There were four homes known not to have a suppression
system and the other four had no information reported.
Seven of the 11 home fires broke out between the hours of 11
p.m. and 7 a.m., killing 42 people, including 16 children under
age six. The area of origin was known in six of the 11 home
fires. Two fires broke out in the kitchen area, and one fire each
broke out in the den, living room, exterior stairway, and porch.

NFPA Journal - September/October 2019

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