State Fire Death Rates

The fire problem varies from region to region in the United States. This often is a result of climate, poverty, education, demographics, and other causal factors. The following table shows the District of Columbia and each State’s fire death rate per capita for 2005 based on the State where the fire death occurred. The national fire death rate in 2005 was 12.3 deaths per million population. States are listed by rate from highest to lowest. The highest death rates in 2005 were in the District of Columbia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama. The states with the lowest rates were Hawaii, Colorado, Rhode Island, California, and Nevada.

Rank Order of States by Fire Death Rate in 2005

State of Occurrence	Fire Death Rate
District of Columbia	36.3
Arkansas	28.8
Oklahoma	28.7
Louisiana	28.3
Tennessee	27.7
Alabama	26.5
Alaska	24.1
Kentucky	22.8
Mississippi	22.3
West Virginia	21.5
South Dakota	16.8
Georgia	16.8
Pennsylvania	16.6
South Carolina	16.2
Vermont	16.1
Nebraska	15.9
North Dakota	15.7
New Mexico	15.0
North Carolina	15.0
Indiana	14.2
Michigan	14.1
Iowa	13.8
Wyoming	13.7
Idaho	13.3
Missouri	12.6
National Fire Death Rate: 12.3 deaths per million population
Ohio	12.2
Arizona	12.1
Maine	12.1
Kansas	11.7
Maryland	11.1
Texas	11.0
Delaware	10.7
Wisconsin	10.7
Virginia	10.0
New York	10.0
New Hampshire	9.9
Washington	9.7
Montana	9.6
Illinois	9.6
Florida	8.7
Connecticut	8.3
Minnesota	8.2
Utah	8.1
Oregon	8.0
New Jersey	7.9
Massachusetts	7.0
Nevada	6.6
California	6.6
Rhode Island	6.5
Colorado	5.6
Hawaii	4.7

Source: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Data – ICD 10 Codes: X00-X09, X76, X97, Y26, F63.1, and W39 from the underlying cause field (3,647 deaths), U.S. Census Bureau population data.