Fire Prevention Week
September 21, 2006
Fire Prevention Week commemorates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the tragic conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 17,400 structures.
The 2006 campaign focuses on teaching families and kids how to keep cooking fires from starting in the first place.
In 2003, cooking equipment was involved in 118,700 reported home structure fires, the largest share for any major cause. Of these fires, 75,300 were reported as fires confined to a cooking vessel (meaning the interior of a cooking device or appliance). The apparent increase in home cooking fires in recent years is entirely due to confined fires, many of which would probably have been coded as something other than fire prior to 1999.
In addition to the 118,700 home structure fires involving cooking equipment, there were an estimated 3,700 reported outdoor home grill fires in 2003.
In 2003, cooking equipment structure fires in homes resulted in 250 civilian deaths, 3,880 civilian injuries, and $512 million in direct property damage. Cooking also ranks first among major causes in number of home civilian fire injuries. Most home cooking fires involve the range, and this is also true for losses in home cooking fires.
The leading factor in home cooking fires is equipment unattended (one-third of home cooking structure fires, excluding confined fires, and two-fifths of associated civilian deaths), followed by combustibles too close to heat source and unintentionally turning on or not turning off the device.
Portable cooking or warming devices rank third among cooking device groups, behind ranges and ovens, in number of home cooking fires (and second in associated civilian deaths). The majority of these fires specifically involve toasters, toaster ovens, or counter-top broilers. Food warmers and hot plates account for most of the deaths in this category.
Microwave ovens stand out for the number of scald burn injuries reported to hospital emergency rooms but not for thermal burns reported to hospital emergency rooms or for civilian fire deaths and injuries, all of which are dominated by ranges.
Home Cooking Fire Patterns, 7/06 i NFPA Fire Analysis and Research, Quincy, MA
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