House Fire Facts

5/25/2022 (Permalink)

House Fire Facts

• House fires cause nearly 4,000 deaths and over 2,000 server injuries to Americans every year.
• Heat from a fire can reach over 1,100 degrees in less than 4 minutes.
• About 80% of civilian deaths are from house fires.
• Areas without fire in them can get up to 300 degrees, which is hot enough to melt plastics.
• Leading cause of fire deaths is careless smoking.
• A working smoke detector more than doubles the chance of survival in a house fire.

Causes of House Fires

• Faulty appliances/ wiring causes the greatest amount of house fires.
• Heating devices such as heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces. Most fires start when something like furniture, boxes or clothing overheat from being placed to close to the heat source.
• Cigarettes being dropped onto furniture like beds, sofas, or chairs.
• Children playing with fire causes house fires every year.

For more information, visit Home Fire Facts | SF Fire Website (sf-fire.org).