Emmitsburg, MD – Although the overall amount of residential fires decreased from 2007 to 2011, cooking fires and related injuries increased, according to a new data series from the U.S. Fire Administration.
USFA released 18 reports examining trends in fire prevalence, injuries, deaths and causes. Cooking remains the major cause of home fires, and cooking fire-related injuries increased 12 percent during the five-year period.
Smoking was the leading cause of death in residential building fires until 2008, when “unintentional, careless” ranked highest, one of the reports (.pdf file) shows.
The reports are based on data collected in USFA’s National Fire Incident Reporting System.
