Fire Facts (released september 2012)
Fires are preventable. Here are just a few good reasons to be more careful about fire:
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1. |
Every 23 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 65 seconds, and a residential fire occurs every 85 seconds.
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2.
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In 2011, 3,005 civilians lost their lives as the result of fire. 17,500 civilian injuries occurred as the result of fire.
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3.
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1,389,500 fires were attended by public fire departments in the US in 2011, a increase of 4.4% from 2010. 484,500 fires occurred in structures and 80% (386,000) of all structure fires occured in residential properties.
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274,500 of the residential structural fires occured in one and two family homes (56.7% of all structural fires) and an additional 95,500 were in apartments (19/7% of all strucutral fires).
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5.
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There was a civilian fire death every 175 minutes and a civilian fire injury every 30 minutes in 2011.
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6.
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84% of all civilian fire deaths occurred in residences. The Northeast, Midwest, and South had the highest civilian death rate per 1,000 people (11.3, 11.1, 10.8, respectively).
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7.
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Approximately $11.7 billion dollars in property damage was caused by fire in the US in 2011.
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In 2011, 14,360 civilians were injured in residential properties of these injuries (up 4.1%), 9,485 civilians were injured in one and two family dwellings. An additional 4,425 were injured in apartments. The property loss in one and two family homes was $5,746,000,000 and additional 1,168,000,000 in property loss from apartments.
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9.
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Almost 2/3 of home fire deaths between 2005-2009 were in homes with no smoke alarm or the smoking alarm wasn't working.
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10.
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Fires kill more people each year than all other natural disasters combined, including floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes.
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11.
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Fire may double in size every 30 seconds. Fire can spread 1100% in the first four minutes. Heat rises at the amazing rate of 90 feet per second; that's almost 60 mph.
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Source: NFPA ( pdf) and U.S. Fire Administration
Safety surveys conducted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have shown that, although the U.S. has a higher fire death rate than Canada, Western Europe or the Pacific Rim, most Americans feel confident about their fire safety. The majority of Americans feel safest from fire while at home, when, in reality, home fires account for about 80% of all reported fires - and they pose the greatest threat to life.
The annual cost to taxpayers for the operation of public fire prevention services in the U.S. numbers in the billions of dollars, most of which is spent on the suppression of fire. Fire suppression is necessary and vitally important. Unfortunately, it is "after-the-fact."
Equally important are the building designs, building materials, and safety processes that help to make prevent fire from starting and make buildings more resistant to fire.
International Barrier's Pyrotite™ technology and BLAZEGUARD® fire-rated wood sheathing are important new materials that can help to build a world safer from fire! |
