Did You Know?

• On average in the United States in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes (Karter 2010).
• About 85% of all U.S. fire deaths in 2009 occurred in homes (Karter 2010).
• In 2009, fire departments responded to 377,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,565 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,050, not including firefighters (Karter 2010).
• Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns (Hall 2001).
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths (Ahrens 2010).
• Cooking is the primary cause of residential fires (Ahrens 2010).