Trends | Causes | Where fires occur | Who fire impacts | Firefighters and fire departments
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) collects data from a variety of sources to provide information and analyses on the status and scope of the fire problem in the United States. Armed with this data, the fire service can use it to:
| Trend | |||
| Fires | 1,240,000 in 2013 | -21.6% from 2004 | |
| Deaths | 3,240 in 2013 | -21.0% from 2004 | |
| Injuries | 15,925 in 2013 | -6.6% from 2004 | |
| $ Loss | $11.5 billion in 2013 | -10.1% * from 2004 |
Read our reports on the causes of residential, nonresidential, vehicle and outside fires, and fires in other places.
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| Cooking | 50.0% |
| Heating | 12.5% |
| Electrical malfunction | 6.3% |
| Unintentional, careless | 5.8% |
| Open flame | 4.4% |
| Appliances | 4.2% |
| Intentional | 4.2% |
| Other heat | 3.2% |
| Exposure | 2.0% |
| Smoking | 2.0% |
| Natural | 1.6% |
| Cause under investigation | 1.2% |
| Other equipment | 1.2% |
| Equipment malfunction | 0.9% |
| Playing with heat source | 0.4% |
Total does not equal 100 percent due to rounding.
show all causes + hide causes -
| Cooking | 29.1% |
| Unintentional, careless | 10.0% |
| Heating | 9.0% |
| Intentional | 8.9% |
| Electrical malfunction | 8.1% |
| Open flame | 6.1% |
| Other heat | 5.1% |
| Appliances | 4.9% |
| Other equipment | 4.7% |
| Exposure | 4.4% |
| Natural | 3.4% |
| Equipment malfunction | 2.5% |
| Smoking | 2.1% |
| Cause under investigation | 1.6% |
| Playing with heat source | 0.4% |
Total does not equal 100 percent due to rounding.
Chart does not total 100% due to rounding.
Read our reports on where fires occur.
“Residential” is the leading property type for fire deaths (76.5%), fire injuries (78.0%) and fire dollar loss (55.0%).
Read our reports on who fire impacts the most.
| 2014 | Texas, California and Pennsylvania | led the nation in number of fire deaths. |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia and the District of Columbia | had the most deaths per million population in the U.S. |
View national and state statistics on fire deaths | Browse state fire profiles
| Deaths | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|
| 61.5% | 58.5% | |
| 38.5% | 41.5% |
African American males (20.0) and American Indian males (19.5) have the highest fire death rates per million population.
People ages 85 or older have the highest fire death (44.5) and injury (68.5) rates.
More information on fire death rates for older adults and children.
Read our reports on fire departments and firefighters.
There were an estimated 29,980 fire departments in 2014 (all career: 2,440; mostly career: 2,045; mostly volunteer: 5,580; all volunteer: 19,915).
See: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on fire departments.
There were an estimated 1,134,400 firefighters in 2014 (career: 346,150; volunteer: 788,250).
See: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on firefighters.
| 91 | Firefighters died while on duty. |
| 59 | Firefighters died from heart attacks. |
| 42 | Firefighters died from activities related to an emergency incident. |
| 25 | Firefighters died from activities at a fire scene. |
| 13 | Firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents. |
| 9 | Firefighters died while participating in training activities. |
27,015 firefighters were injured on the fireground in 2014.
Visit: National Fire Protection Association for more statistics on firefighter injuries.
These documents describe the data sources and methodology we use to calculate our fire loss estimates.
