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· 515,000 structure fires, decrease of 2.9% from 2007
· Of these structure fires, 403,000 or 78%, were residential fires
· A fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the U.S. every 22 sec.
· 3,320 civilian deaths due to fire in 2008, increase of 3.2% from 2007 (one every 158 min.)
· 2,755 civilian deaths in residential fires (83% of total), decrease of 3.8% from 2007
· 16,705 civilian fire injuries occurred in 2008, a decrease of 5.5% from 2007 (one every 31 min.)
· 13,560 of all civilian injuries occurred in residential properties, while 1,400 occurred in nonresidential structure fires.
· An estimated 30,500 structure fires were deliberately set (decrease of 6.2% from 2007)
· Incendiary or suspicious fires resulted in 315 civilian deaths
· Property damage as a result of fire is estimated at $15,478,000,000 in 2008, an increase of 5.7% from 2007
Data courtesy of:
Fire Loss in the United States 2008, August 2009 Report, Michael J. Karter Jr.,
National Fire Protection Association - Fire Analysis and Research Division
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