U.S. Rates Worst In Number of Fires, Best in Suppression

U.S. Rates Worst In Number of Fires, Best in Suppression

Fire departments in this country do a good job of controlling the fires they are called to. According to recently released figures published by United States Fire Administration in the second edition of “Highlights of Fire in the United States,” our loss per fire is below that of most other industrialized nations.

The bad news is that not enough is being done to prevent fires. Added together, all our fires give this country one of the worst fire safety records. Also alarming is the indication that the fire death rate is on the rise again after declining for a time.

High death rate states

Fire problems vary from state to state. In general, the southeastern states have the highest fire death rates due to several factors related to the higher proportion of rural area and poverty and the way heating appliances are used in those states. In eight other states fire deaths increased by over 10 percent since the first report was published. For all of the United States, the total estimated fire deaths for the period studied, 1978, was 8400.

Throughout the country the fire death rate is related to sex and race. Men have almost twice the death rate of women, and the rates for nonwhites is 2½ times the rate for whites.

Fire fighter deaths

Fire fighters called to these fires are also suffering a high rate of deaths and injuries. Heart attacks account for just over half the deaths. The majority of the estimated 58,000 injuries (52 percent) occur when fighting fires in residences. But the most dangerous fires, with twice the injury rate of residences, are in manufacturing, storage and basic industry occupancies. Fires in unoccupied buildings and in stores and offices also caused a high injury rate.

The best way for fire departments to reduce local fire fighter injury rates, however, is to analyze their own injuryproducing situations and prepare training and fireground tactics accordingly.

The complete, updated report on fire in the United States will be published later this year. For a free copy of the second edition Highlights booklet, write to J. W. Overbey, National Fire Data Center, U. S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C. 20472.

NJ Apartment Building Fire Displaces 41, Sends One to Hospital

A fire tore through the top floor of an apartment building on Palisade Avenue in Bogota on Sunday.

Providence (RI) Firefighter Pinned by Sliding Fire Truck During Snowstorm

A Providence firefighter was pinned between a fire engine and a parked car early Sunday morning when the truck got stuck and slid into the…