Skip to content

Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Injury Prevention

Burn and Fire-related Injury Prevention

Questions and Answers

  • Nationally, what percentage of fire-related deaths were the result of home fires?
    83%
  • How many people died in home fires everyday in 2008?
    8
  • From 2003-2006 how many of all home fire deaths were the result of no working smoke alarm?
    Two-thirds
  • Nationally, a fire department responded to a home fire every _____ seconds.
    81
  • What is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries?
    Cooking
  • What causes one of every four home fire deaths?
    Smoking materials (cigarettes, etc.)
  • Which rooms are the leading areas for the start of a fire that resulted in a death?
    Bedrooms and living/family rooms
  • What causes the most burns seen in an emergency room, thermal (heat or fire) or scalding (hot liquids)?
    Thermal burns, nearly 2-to-1
  • What is the leading cause of home fires?
    Cooking
  • What causes so many cooking fires?
    Unattended cooking
  • What is the leading cause of fire deaths, roughly one in four?
    Smoking materials
  • How many smoking-material (cigarettes, etc.) fires in the USA in 2006.
    142,900
  • In 2006, how many fire-related deaths occurred in the USA due to smoking materials (cigarettes, etc.)?
    780
  • Are older or younger adults at highest risk of death or injury from smoking-material (cigarettes, etc.) fires?
    Older, even though they are less likely to smoke
  • What is the most common item first ignited in home smoke-material (cigarette, etc.) fire deaths?
    Upholstered furniture and mattresses or bedding
  • How often are the victims of fatal smoking-related fires not the smoker whose cigarette started the fire?
    25% or one of four victims
  • Almost all USA homes have at least one smoke alarm, but 63% of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes without ______________ smoke alarms.
    Working or functional
  • More than half of all heating equipment related fire deaths in 2003-2006 resulted from fires in what months?
    December, January and February
  • Do space heaters or central heating devised cause more fires?
    Space heaters
  • Most of the space heater fires were caused by the space heater ___________________.
    Being too close to things that could burn
  • In electrical caused fires, do wiring switches/outlets cause more fires than cords/plugs?
    Yes, wiring switches cause many more fires than do cords or plugs
  • Roughly half of the people arrested for arson are ______ years of age.
    Under 18
  • Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a fire by ______
    Half
  • From 2003-2006, no smoke alarms were present in ____% of home fire deaths.
    40
  • What is the leading reason for people disabling their smoke alarms?
    Nuisance alarms
  • In a recent national survey, how many people said they actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan?
    Only one in four, or about 25%
  • Which age group is least likely to have developed a fire escape plan?
    18 - 24 year olds
  • How many people said their first thought upon hearing a smoke alarm would be to get out of the house or building?
    Only 8%