Average Fire Experience

Average fire experience by community size for all fires and residential properties can be seen in Tables 11 and 12.

Table 11

Average 2011 Fire Experience by Size of Community

Population of	Total	Structure	Civilian	Civilian	Property
Community	Fires	Fires	Deaths	Injuries	Loss
1,000,000 or more	4,693	1,574	11.00	108.00	$41,168,300
500,000 to 999,999	2,585	1,105	4.35	25.00	19,880,700
250,000 to 499,999	1,131	454	2.83	19.00	10,618,800
100,000 to 249,999	512	191	1.44	9.97	5,200,000
50,000 to 99,999	223	87	0.49	4.29	2,246,200
25,000 to 49,999	114	43	0.24	2.19	1,133,800
10,000 to 24,999	64	23	0.18	1.03	631,200
5,000 to 9,999	36	13	0.07	0.32	435,600
2,500 to 4,999	24	7	0.06	0.11	280,100
under 2,500	12	3	0.03	0.03	128,100
		Table 12
Average 2011 Residential Fire Experience by Size of Community
Population of	Number of	Civilian	Civilian	Property
Community	Fires	Deaths	Injuries	Loss
1,000,000 or more	1,274	8.25	75.29	$24,286.100
500,000 to 999,999	887	3.23	23.19	12,868,700
250,000 to 499,999	375	2.37	17.38	6,353,200
100,000 to 249,999	160	1.14	8.37	3,001,700
50,000 to 99,999	70	0.44	3.49	1,238,000
25,000 to 49,999	36	0.20	1.75	653,200
10,000 to 24,999	18	0.15	0.84	397,700
5,000 to 9,999	10	0.06	0.28	247,500
2,500 to 4,999	6	0.04	0.07	167,700
under 2,500	2	0.02	0.02	60,500
Source: NFPA's Survey of Fire Departments for 2011 U.S. Fire Experience
Fire Loss in the U.S., 9/12	23	NFPA Fire Analysis and Research, Quincy, MA

Table 13

Fire Department Responses by Type of Call, 2011

		Percent
		Change
	Number	From 2010
Fire Incidents	1,389,500	+4.4
Medical Aid Responses	19,803,000	+6.9
(Ambulance, EMS,
Rescue)
False Alarms	2,383,000	+9.0
Mutual Aid or Assistance	1,252,000	+5.3
Calls
Hazardous Material	379,000	-5.7
Responses
(Spills, Leaks, etc.)
Other Hazardous Responses	720,000	+9.1
(arcing wires, bomb
removal etc.)
All Other Responses	4,171,500	+6.6
(smoke scares, lock-outs,
(etc.)
Total Incidents	30,098,000	+6.7

The percent of fires and nonfire incidents by community size is shown in Table 14.

A further breakdown on false responses was collected on the 2011 surveys and the results can be seen in Table 15.

Fire Loss in the U.S., 9/12

24

NFPA Fire Analysis and Research, Quincy, MA

Table 14

Percent of Fires and Nonfire Incidents by Community size, 2010-2011

Community Size

	1,000,000	500,000 to	250,000 to	100,000 to	50,000 to	25,000 to	10,000 to	5,000 to	2,500 to	less than
	or more	999,999	499,999	249,999	99,999	49,999	24,999	9,999	4,999	2,500
Fire Incidents	2.5%	3.2%	3.3%	3.1%	3.3%	3.9%	4.7%	6.5%	9.3%	13.9%
Medical Aid Responses	74.3%	69.3%	66.8%	69.1%	66.8%	62.6%	62.0%	55.2%	53.8%	49.9%
False Alarms	8.8%	6.8%	7.2%	7.2%	8.4%	9.8%	9.1%	9.8%	6.6%	7.9%
Mutual Aid Responses	2.9%	1.4%	1.3%	1.8%	2.7%	4.4%	6.4%	9.8%	11.4%	16.3%
Hazardous Material Responses	0.5%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.2%	1.8%	1.9%	1.9%	1.3%	1.3%
Other Hazardous Responses	1.1%	1.6%	2.2%	2.0%	2.4%	3.0%	3.6%	3.8%	3.3%	3.0%
All Other Responses	9.9%	16.5%	18.3%	15.8%	15.2%	14.5%	12.3%	13.1%	14.2%	7.7%
	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Source: NFPA’s Survey of Fire Departments for U.S. Fire Experience, 2010-2011.

Fire Loss in the U.S., 9/12	25	NFPA Fire Analysis and Research, Quincy, MA

Table 15

Estimates of False Alarms by Type, 2011

		Percent	Percent
		Change	of All False
	Estimate	From 2010	Alarms
Malicious, Mischievous	182,500	+12.0	7.7
False Call
System Malfunction	748,000	+5.6	31.4
Unintentional Call	1,061,500	+7.0	44.5
Other False Alarms	391,000	+20.9	16.4
(Bomb Scares, etc.)
Total	2,383,000	+9.0

Source: NFPA's Survey of Fire Departments for 2011 U.S. Fire Experience

Fire Loss in the U.S., 9/12

26

NFPA Fire Analysis and Research, Quincy, MA