Fire Statistics That May Surprise You

Running a business is time-consuming, wonderful, exhausting and exhilarating, but it can all be gone in an instant if you have a catastrophic fire. Even when you feel as though you’re doing everything right, there is always the possibility that your livelihood and even your life could be lost in a fire. Many of these dangerous fires are manageable with the right maintenance on your fire systems, while others should be preventable with education and foresight. Whether you’re a proactive fire protection guru or are not-quite-confident in your fire know-how, these statistics are sure to surprise you and your staff.

Humans Are Dangerous

From starting wildfires to poor decisions with smoking implements, humans are prone to create problems when it comes to fire. More than 90% of the wildfires in the U.S. are caused by humans, including the devastating California wildfires where many officials say that humans are working the fires worse at every step. These deadly and destructive fires could often be preventable with education — which is truly sad. Careless smokers are a leading cause of fires in the workplace, with the majority of fires of this type occurring between noon and 2pm.

Fires Are Expensive

You might feel like fire protection is expensive. When you compare the cost of updates to existing systems and maintenance with the $23 billion that fires cost businesses every year — prevention costs don’t seem so bad! Faulty heating equipment is another major cause of fires, so be sure to schedule your annual maintenance tune-up, too. Fire departments are responding to a call every 24 seconds in the United States, a number that continues to decrease but that is still incredibly high.

Fires Are Deadly

More than 14,000 individuals are injured every year in fire-related incidents, while nearly 3,400 perish in fires on an annual basis. Firefighters are certainly not immune — more than 87 firefighter lives were lost in 2017. The majority of time, death in fire situations is not caused by the fire itself, but rather by smoke inhalation. This means it’s critical to give people time to get out of a building in the event of a fire. Unfortunately, many of these deaths are children who were playing with matches or other fire implements that quickly got out of hand.

Be Careful When Cooking

As if all the other causes of fires aren’t enough, cooking in the office or restaurants causes a significant number of fires each year. According to FEMA, cooking cause nearly 30% of non-residential fires last year, significantly higher than the next most prevalent reason (carelessness at 11%). Electric stoves are more likely to cause a fire than gas stoves, likely due to the increased possibility of poor wiring with electricity.

As you can see, there are clear challenges with preventing fires at your home or place of business. The best protections against unexpected fire are education and adequate, updated fire protection equipment. Learn more about getting the right fire prevention and detection equipment for your place of business when you call the professionals at AAA Fire Protection. We work with hundreds of businesses to protect them from harm, and our 24-hour hotline is always available in the event of an emergency. Contact us today at 855-356-0020 to learn more or receive a free initial estimate for your business.