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The United States has the fourth highest fire death rate of all industrialized countries, and home fires are the most frequent cause of fire-related mortality. Do you know how to prevent fire-related death and injuries in your home? |
Every year, residential fires take thousands of lives and destroy property worth billions of dollars in the United States. In 2002 alone, someone died in a home fire nearly every three hours. In fact, fire departments responded to 401,000 reported home fires in the United States in 2002, which claimed the lives of an estimated 2,670 people, injured another 14,050 and caused $6.1 billion in direct property damage.
Most fire victims die from smoke or toxic gases, not from burns. While residential fires caused by cooking are the leading cause of injury, residential fires caused by discarded cigarettes are leading cause of death. Winter is especially deadly: space heaters are responsible for a high percentage of home fires during December, January and February. Common causes of fires caused by space heaters are a lack of regular cleaning; placing them too close to combustible materials like furniture or drapes; and basic flaws in their construction or design. Another common cause of winter fires is sparks from fireplaces without spark screens or glass doors.
Although children five and under make up about 8 percent of the country’s population, they account for 11 percent of home fire deaths – a risk 30 percent higher than the national average. Adults 65 and older face over double the average risk. About half of home fire-deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms, and alcohol use contributes to an estimated 40 percent of residential fire deaths.
Here are some simple prevention tips to help protect your family from fire:
- Install smoke alarms on every floor of your home, including the basement. Be sure to place smoke alarms near rooms where people sleep.
- Test all of your smoke alarms every month to ensure that they work properly.
- Use smoke alarms equipped with lithium-powered, long-life batteries and hush buttons to quickly stop nuisance alarms caused by steam, rising heat, oven smoke, or other causes.
- If long-life smoke alarms are not available, install smoke alarms that use regular batteries and replace the batteries every year. To help you remember this annual task, change your batteries when you change your clocks to standard time in the fall.
- Never leave food on a stove unattended; keep cooking areas free of flammable objects, such as potholders and towels; and avoid wearing clothes with long, loose-fitting sleeves when cooking.
- Don’t smoke in bed, and never leave burning cigarettes unattended. Do not empty smoldering ashes in a trashcan. Keep ashtrays away from upholstered furniture and curtains.
- Never place portable space heaters near flammable materials like drapes.
- Make a family fire escape plan and practice it every six months. Include at least two different escape routes from each room for each family member. Designate a safe place in front of the house or apartment building for family members to meet after escaping a fire.
Install fire sprinklers in your home to suppress fires. Fire sprinklers can be retrofitted to existing homes or installed during the construction of new housing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts a number of activities to help prevent fire deaths and injuries. For example, CDC has teamed with the U.S. Fire Administration and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to collaborate in preventing fires in the United States, with the goal of eliminating residential fire deaths by the year 2020.
The CDC Foundation supports a variety of programs that help CDC protect the public’s health and safety. Learn more about the Foundation’s healthy lifestyle initiatives, or how you can help.