Fire statistics

Brushlinski, N., Sokolov, S. and Wagner, P, World Fire Statistics at the End of the 20th Century, Report 6, Center of Fire Statistics of CTIF, International Technical Committee for the Prevention and Extinction of Fire, Moscow and Berlin, 2000. 

World Fire Statistics No 18, October 2002. The Geneva Association... 

Wildland Fire Statistics. National Interagency Fire Center Web site. Available online. URL http //www.nifc.gov/stats/ historicalstats.html. 

Fire Statistics—National Fire Prevention Association http //www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp category ID=951 URL=Research%20 %20Reports/Fire%20statistics... 

The open flame hazard associated with a bedroom fire is well established through fire statistics and field studies. The majority of bedroom fires not caused by smoldering cigarettes involve... 

It is easy to see that the aforementioned requirements have a noticeable and positive impact on fire statistics. For example, the significantly lower number of fatalities per capita in fires involving television sets in the United States compared with Europe can be attributed to the UL 94V-0 requirement for the plastic housing in North America.22... 

World Fire Statistics, Geneva Association Information Newsletter, October, 2007. 

Forest Fire Statistics, Division of Cooperative Forest Fire Control, Forest Service, U. S. D. A., Washington, D. C. 

Fire statistics collected by NFPA indicated that 1 687 500 fires were reported in the United States in 2002, the latest year for which complete statistics are available at the time of this writing. Calculated another way, these statistics translate into a reported fire occurring in the United States every 19 s, in an outside property every 38 s, in a structure every 61s, in a residence every 67 s, and in a motor vehicle every 96 s. These fires caused 3380 civilian deaths and 18 425 reported injuries in 2002. Excluding New York City s World Trade Center deaths from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which 2326 civilian deaths occurred, the number of deaths in 2002 decreased by almost 10% from the previous year. However, there still was one civilian fire death every 156 min and one fire injury every 28 min. The number for injuries is believed to be less than the actual number, since many injuries are not reported. The property loss due to fires in 2002 is estimated at 10.3 billion dollars and indicates a decrease of 2.2% from the previous year, if one excludes the World Trade Center deaths from the 2001 numbers. 

Recent publication of world fire statistics reveals that costs of fires currently runs around 1% of GDP in most advanced countries. Deaths and losses in the United States tend to be the most extreme with annual losses of lObn/year [224], The annual review performed by Munich Re of world disaster losses reveals that world-wide forest fire losses alone exceeded 5.5bn and insured losses exceeded 2.5bn during 2003. Such losses exceed the sum of all losses from volcanic eruptions, hailstones, flash floods, Tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, water drainage, frost, and local and winter storms combined (Of course the Baran earthquake, the European heat wave, floods, and severe and tropical storms individually exceeded forest fire losses, Munich Re [437],... 

Geneva Association World Fire Statistics (2001) Bulletin 17, International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics, Geneva, Switzerland. 

In evaluating fire statistics, it is important to recognize that these numbers are extrapolated from only a few recorded actual cases. For instance, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report on upholstered furniture flammability shows a total of only three fatalities recorded for upholstered furniture fires initiated from open-flame sources for the states of California and Ohio in 1977 A single multi-fatality fire could dramatically change those numbers as happened in 1976. That year only one fire was coded as originating from a match or lighter. 

Fire codes or standards have governed urethane business for some time and have played a prominent role in the creation of building codes. Unfortunately, fire statistics currently are based on a minimum number of collected fire cases which become the base for regulatory activity that impacts industry and consumers. 

US fire statistics show that over half of all fire deaths are from smoke inhalation, mostly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. For the hydrogen cyanide, usually PU (mostly from foam in construction or furniture) are held responsible [81]. 

Table 11.9 UK fire Statistics for fires in road vehicles 2000-2013 ...

UK fire statistics. London Dept for Communities and Local Government 2012. www. communities.gov.uk. 

Fire scenario 2 is the case where the fire breaks out in the main switch board usually located in engine control room. Fire statistics show that it is one of the most frequent causes of ship fire. As in fire scenario 1, there are several simulation cases depending on ventilation conditions and fire spreading behavior. 

Fire Statistics, United Kingdom, 1997, The Home Office, The Government Statistical Office, UK, ISSN 0143 6384 UK, ISSN 0143 6384 (1998). 

Consumer units - Recent fire statistics have shown that a large number of domestic fires involved plastic consumer units as a source of the fire. Consumer units are often located at the entrance or exit door or under stairs, raising the possibility that a fire starting as a result of faulty wiring could spread to coats or other household items and block the emergency escape routes. Regulation 421.1.200 now requires that consumer units be manufactured from non-combustible material, for example metal, or be enclosed in a non-combustible enclosure. Consumer units and switchgear must comply with BS EN 61439-3. 

Other countries such as the USA or Japan require higher safety ratings than Europe. The technology to achieve that higher fire safety has been a normal commercial practice for many years. Implicit in the studies on fire statistics and the LCA from Sweden, a return to the use of materials with high levels of fire safety may be necessary to provide adequate protection to European consumers. 

The fire statistics suggest that these are the most frequent sources of workplace fires. They can be controlled by maintaining high standards of housekeeping. Solid flammable waste should be put in a non-flammable container which should be emptied regularly. Spillages of flammable liquids should be contained using an adsorbent, then removed as soon as possible for safe disposal. 

The HSE and the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) provide information by way of their respective websites which can include reactive data such as health, safety and fire statistics, together with a wealth of information relating to safety campaigns. 

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