Fire Facts
Fires are preventable. Here are just a few good reasons to be more careful about fire:
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Every 22 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the nation. A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 61 seconds, and a residential fire occurs every 82 seconds.
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In 2008, 3,320 civilians lost their lives as the result of fire. 102 firefighters were killed on duty. 16,705 civilian injuries occurred as the result of fire.
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1,451,500 fires were attended by public fire departments in the US in 2008, a slight decrease of 7% from 2007. 515,000 fires occurred in structures and 78% (403,000) of all structure fires occured in residential properties.
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There was a civilian fire death every 158 minutes and a civilian fire injury every 31 minutes in 2008.
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92% of all civilian fire deaths occurred in residences.
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Approximately $15.5 billion dollars in property damage was caused by fire in the US in 2008.
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In 2008, 13,560 civilians were injured in residential properties of these injuries, 9,185 civilians were injured in one and two family dwellings. An additional 3,975 were injured in apartments. The property loss in one and two family homes increased to $6,900,000,000 and additional 1,350,000,000 in property loss from apartments.
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Despite common use of sprinklers and smoke alarms, North America has the worst fire death rate in the industrialized world.
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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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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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63% of home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
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Most fatal fires kill one or two people. In 2008, 13 home fires killed five or more people. These 13 fires resulted in 79 deaths. |
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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! |
