NFPA Journal - Winter 2021 - 79

Sailors and Federal Fire San Diego firefighters battle a fire
aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard
in California in July 2020. Loss was estimated at $3 billion.
GETTY IMAGES
that fires in non-home
and non-residential
structures were more
likely to have occurred
in properties protected
by sprinklers than were
homes.
An estimated 209,500
vehicle fires caused
630 civilian fire deaths,
1,700 civilian fire injuries,
and $5.2 billion in
direct property damage
in 2020. More than half
of the vehicle property
loss resulted from a July
2020 naval ship fire in
California that resulted
in an estimated loss of
$3 billion.
Apartments are more
regulated than one- or
two-family homes. For
more information, see
the NFPA reports " Home
Structure Fires " and
" Smoke Alarms in US
Home Fires " online at
nfpa.org/research.
The home structure fire
estimate was 51 percent
lower in 2020 than in
1980, while estimates
for home fire deaths and
injuries were 50 percent
and 42 percent lower,
respectively. The population-based
decreases
over that period were
even greater.
From 2019 to 2020,
home structure fires
rose 5 percent, associated
civilian deaths fell 7
percent, civilian injuries
fell 6 percent, and home
fire property damage
rose 8 percent.
The 1.1 home structure
fires per thousand population
in 2020 was 66
percent lower than the
rate of 3.2 such fires in
1980. The 2020 civilian
home fire death rate of
7.8 per million population
was 66 percent
lower than the 1980 rate
of 23.0 earlier. The trend
lines for home fire death
rates and total fire death
rates are very similar.
Population-based rates
show even greater longterm
decreases because
of the country's population
growth. The rate
of 4.2 fires per 1,000
population in 2020 was
68 percent lower than
the 13.1 rate in 1980 and
7 percent higher than
the 2019 rate. The 10.6
civilian fire deaths per
million population in
2020 was 63 percent
lower than the 28.6 rate
in 1980 and 6 percent
lower than in 2019.
Much less progress has
been made in reducing
the likelihood of death in
reported fires. In 1980,
there were 7.1 deaths
per 1,000 reported
home fires overall. This
was also true for one- or
two-family homes and
apartments. In 2020,
the rate of 7.2 deaths
per 1,000 reported fires
was actually 2 percent
higher than in 1980. The
death rate per 1,000
reported apartment
fires fell 43 percent to
4.1 while the 2020 oneand
two-family rate of
8.2 deaths per 1,000
reported fires was 16
percent higher than in
1980.
While the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic
on the frequency of
different fire causes is
not yet known, it is clear
that routines changed
dramatically in many
homes and businesses.
The 2020 US fire property
damage included
$4.2 billion associated
with wildland/
urban interface fires
in California, as well as
a California blaze that
destroyed a naval ship
($3 billion).
Only 10 percent of
reported fires and 4
percent of reported fire
deaths in 2020 were
caused by non-home
structure fires. There
were 23,000 non-home
residential structure
fires (2 percent),
including fires in hotels
and motels, dormitories,
rooming houses,
residential board and
care, and unclassified
residential fires, which
caused 50 deaths (1
percent). The 111,000
non-residential structure
fires (8 percent)
caused 100 deaths (3
percent). These properties
tend to be the
most tightly regulated.
The NFPA report " US
Experience with Sprinklers "
shows
Vehicle fire deaths
have been increasing
in the past few years.
Eighty-three percent of
reported vehicle fires,
92 percent of associated
deaths, and 88
percent of associated
injuries resulted from
fires involving highway
vehicles such as cars,
trucks, motorcycles,
buses, recreational
vehicles in transit, and
other vehicles intended
for use on roadways.
For more, see the 2020
report " Vehicle Fires " at
nfpa.org/research.
One out of five reported
fires in 2020 was a
brush, grass, or wildland
fire that did not result
in a dollar loss (20 percent).
Additionally, 15
percent were outside
rubbish fires, 6 percent
were outside, non-structure,
non-vehicle fires
involving property of
value, and 7 percent
were other or unclassified
fires.
We are grateful to the
2,204 fire departments
that answered the 2020
National Fire Experience
Survey and made
this analysis possible.
Each year, the NFPA
fire experience survey
is sent to all local fire
departments protecting
populations of at least
5,000, and a random
sample of smaller
departments.
MARTY AHRENS is fire analysis research manager at NFPA.
BEN EVARTS is data collection and research manager at NFPA.
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NFPA Journal - Winter 2021

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