Home Fire Safety

We are quickly approaching a string of holidays that, according to statistics, sees an increase in home fires. The causes range from: candles, fireplaces, woodstoves, kitchen (grease) fires, decorations (including Christmas Trees) and turkey fryer fires. The prevention; the common fire prevention tips and alarms (fire/smoke; Carbon Monoxide).

According to these statistics in the USA:

• American homes suffer an unwanted fire every 10 seconds and every 60 seconds they suffer a fire serious enough to call the fire department.
• Every three hours someone is killed in a home fire—that’s more than 2,600 people in 2006 alone. Another 13,000 people are injured in home fires in a typical year.
• More than 3,500-4,000 Americans die each year in fires and approximately 20,000 are injured and causes billions of dollars worth of damage.
• People living in rural areas are more than twice as likely to die in a fire than those living in mid-sized cities or suburban areas. The misuse of wood stoves, portable space heaters and kerosene heaters are especially common risks in rural areas.

Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural areas every year. Often these fires are due to creosote buildup in chimneys and stovepipes. Between 2002 and 2004, an annual average of: 49,100 heating fires occurred in residential buildings and were responsible for an estimated 125 civilian fire deaths, 575 injuries, and $232 million in property loss.


Carbon Monoxide (CO): Each year in America, unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning claims more than 400 lives and sends another 20,000 people to hospital emergency rooms for treatment.


Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings: Using data, from 2002 to 2004, the yearly national fire loss for clothes dryer fires in structures is estimated at $99 million. Each year, these losses result from an estimated 15,600 fires that required a fire department response. These clothes dryer fires cause an annual average of approximately 400 injuries and 15 fatalities.


Residential Building Electrical Fires: Electrical fires in residential buildings result in more dam¬age and higher death rates per 1,000 fires on average than nonelectrical residential fires. Dollar loss per fire for residential building electrical fires is more than double that for nonelectrical residential building fires; deaths per 1,000 fires is about 70% higher for residential building electrical fires. The injury rates resulting from residential building electrical and nonelectrical fires, however, are roughly the same, at 28 to 29 injuries per 1,000 fires.


Smoking-Related Fires in Residential Buildings: Between 2006 and 2008, an estimated annual average of 9,000 smoking-related fires occurred in residential buildings in the United States. These smoking-related fires accounted for 2 percent of residential building fires responded to by fire departments across the nation and resulted in an average of approximately: 450 deaths, 1,025 injuries and $303 million in property loss each year.


Bedroom Fires: Nearly 600 lives are lost to fires that start in bedrooms.


Mattress and Bedding Fires in Residential Structures (from 2002 by NFPA and NFIRS): Each year, an estimated 20,800 fires are attributed to mattress/bedding fires. These fires cause: 2,200 injuries, 380 fatalities and $104 million in property loss.


Grill Fires (2002 by NFPA and NFIRS): Each year, an average of 6,500 grill fires result in nearly $27 million in property loss.


Lightning Fires (2002 by NFPA and NFIRS): Each year, an estimated 17,400 fires are attributed to lightning. Annually, these fires result in approximately: 10 civilian deaths, 75 civilian injuries and $138 million in prop¬erty damage.


Winter Residential Fires (1996–98): Nearly 40% of residential fire-related injuries (8,775) and 50% of residential fatali¬ties (1,910) occur between the beginning of November and end of February with January as the peak month. These winter fires average $3 billion in property loss each year.


Residential Structure Fires during the Winter Holiday season (2002 by NFPA and NFIRS): Each year, nearly 156,000 fires in the United States occur during the winter holiday season claiming nearly 630 lives, 2,600 injuries, and $936 million in property damage. Of these, 47,000 residential structure fires: kill 530, injure 2,200,and cause an estimated $554 million in property damage.


Winter Residential Building Fires (2005-2007): From 2005 to 2007, an estimated 108,400 winter residential building fires occurred annually in the United States. These fires result in an estimated average of approximately: 945 deaths, 3,825 injuries and $1,708,000,000 in property loss each year.


Fireworks: Injuries from fireworks—most of which occur around the 4th of July—increased from 8,800 in 2002 to 9,300 in 2003. Over the past 13 years, however, the injury rate has fallen 37%—from 4.3 to 3.2 injuries per 100,000 population.


Holiday Fires: Each year fires occurring during the holiday season claim the lives of over 400 Americans, injure 1,650 more, and cause over $990 million in damage.


Thanksgiving Day: Residential Structure Fires (2002 by NFPA and NFIRS): Each year, nearly 4,300 fires in the United States occur on Thanksgiving day causing 15 fatalities, about 50 injuries, and nearly $27 million in property damage.


December and Holiday Fires: December marks the beginning of the holiday season, which includes Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve. Using the latest 3 years of data from 2002 to 2004, the yearly national fire loss for December is esti¬mated at $990 million. Each year, these losses result from an estimated 128,700 December fires that required a fire department response. These December fires cause an average of approximately 1,650 injuries and 415 fatalities.


Christmas/Christmas Tree Fires (2001): The Holiday season is typically regarded as extending from late November to early January and includes Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day. Using the latest 3 years of data, the yearly estimated fire loss for December 24, 25, and 26 is esti¬mated at over $80 million. Each year, these losses result from an estimated 11,600 fires that required a fire department response. These fires cause an annual average of approximately 250 injuries and 40 fatalities.


New Year’s Holiday Fires (2004): Approximately 6,400 fires in the United States occurred during the average New Year’s holiday, claiming an estimated 30 lives, causing 93 injuries and $53 million in property damage. Approximately 34% of all New Year’s fires occurred in residential property structures.


These statistics may be a bit scary, but it just to goes to show you that being Prepared isn’t just about TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as we Know It) it’s also about all of the everyday hazards that come our way too. Read more @ http://www.scribd.com/doc/39565371/Home-Fire-Safety, run a home hazard check and reduce the odds of this “wack” to your survivability quotient! (Yes I know a lot of the links are from Uncle Sam, but in this case the information is right on.)

Keep On Preppin

TNT