Holiday Fire - Evans Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency, Inc

FIRE LOSSES

Great strides have been made in constructing fire resistant buildings, reducing the incidence of fires and improving fire suppression techniques. However, in terms of property losses, these advances have been somewhat offset by increases in the number and value of buildings. According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2010, on average, a fire department responded to a fire every 24 seconds in the United States. A structure fire occurs every 65 seconds; a residential fire occurs every 82 seconds; a vehicle fire occurs every 146 seconds.

HOLIDAY FIRE LOSSES

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U.S. fire departments respond to an average of 240 home Christmas tree fires each year, according to a 2011 report by the National Fire Protection Association based on 2005-2009 data. These fires are responsible for an average of 13 deaths, 27 injuries, and $16.7 million in direct property damage annually, according to the NFPA. For further information see theNFPA‘s holiday statistics.

For information about Holiday Safety and Preparedness, see our Pinterest board.

U.S. FIRE LOSSES, 2002-2011 (1)

Year	Property loss ($ millions)	Loss per capita
2002	$17,586	$61.14
2003	21,129	72.83
2004	17,344	59.23
2005	20,427	69.12
2006	20,340	68.17
2007	24,399	81.00
2008	24,734	81.34
2009	22,911	74.68
2010	20,486	66.22
2011	23,479	75.35

(1) Including allowances for FAIR Plan and uninsured losses.

Source: ISO, a Verisk Analytics company; Insurance Information Institute.

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Fire losses associated with homeowners insurance claims (including FAIR Plans) accounted for an estimated 55 percent of total fire losses in 2011.
Fire losses associated with commercial multiple peril claims accounted for an estimated 22 percent of total fire losses in 2011. Fire losses associated with fire insurance claims accounted for the remaining 24 percent.

STRUCTURE FIRES, 2002-2011 (1)

Year	Number of fires	Year	Number of fires
2002	519,000	2007	530,500
2003	519,500	2008	515,000
2004	526,000	2009	480,500
2005	511,000	2010	482,000
2006	524,000	2011	484,500

(1) Includes public assembly, educational, institutional and residential structures, stores and offices, industry, utility, defense, storage and special structures.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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CIVILIAN (NONFIREFIGHTER) FIRE DEATHS AND INJURIES BY PROPERTY USE, 2011

Property use	Civilian fire deaths	Percent change from 2010	Percent of all civilian fire deaths	Civilian fire injuries
Residential	2,550	-4.3%	84.8%	14,360
1 and 2 family homes (1)	2,105	-4.3	70.0	9,485
Apartments	415	-5.7	13.8	4,425
Other residential (2)	30	20.0	1.0	450
Nonresidential structures (3)	90	(4)	3.0	1,275
Highway vehicles	270	-5.3	9.0	1,020
Other vehicles (5)	30	20.0	1.0	170
All other fires (6)	65	18.2	2.2	675
Total	3,005	-3.7%	100.0%	17,500

(1) Includes manufactured homes.
(2) Includes hotels and motels, college dormitories, boarding houses, etc.
(3) Includes public assembly, educational, institutional, store and office, industry, utility, storage
and special structure properties.
(4) Less than 0.1 percent.
(5) Includes trains, boats, ships, farm vehicles and construction vehicles.
(6) Includes outside properties with value, as well as brush, rubbish and other outside locations.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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STRUCTURE FIRES BY TYPE OF USE, 2011 (1)

Property use	Estimated number of fires	Percent change from 2010	Property loss (2)($ millions)	Percent change from 2010
Public assembly	12,500	4.2%	$446	5.9%
Educational	5,000	-9.1	44	-42.1
Institutional	6,500	18.2	52	40.5
Residential	386,000	0.5	7,054	-0.4
1 and 2 family homes (3)	274,500	-1.6	5,746	-2.5
Apartments	95,500	5.5	1,168	13.1
Other (4)	16,000	10.3	140	-7.3
Stores and offices	18,500	2.8	625	-14.4
Industry, utility, defense (5)	10,000	11.1	620	20.4
Storage in structures	27,000	-3.6	721	-4.6
Special structures	19,000	-5.0	131	28.4
Total	484,500	0.5%	$9,693	-0.2%

(1) Estimates based on data reported by fire departments responding to the 2011 National Fire Experience Survey. May not include reports from all fire departments.
(2) Includes overall direct property loss to contents, structures, vehicles, machinery, vegetation or any other property involved in a fire. Does not include indirect losses, such as business interruption or temporary shelter costs.
(3) Includes manufactured homes.
(4) Includes hotels and motels, college dormitories, boarding houses, etc.
(5) Does not include incidents handled only by private brigades or fixed suppression systems.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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THE TEN MOST CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE-DEATH FIRES OF 2011 (1)

Rank	Month	State	Type of facility	Deaths
1	March	Pennsylvania	Single-family home	7
2	March	Texas	Single-family manufactured home	6
3	April	Washington	Single-family home	6
4	May	Illinois	10-unit apartment building	6
5	June	Ohio	Single-family home	6
6	July	Minnesota	Bed and breakfast	6
7	July	New York	Single-family home	6
8	October	Kansas	Grain elevator	6
9	January	Washington	9-unit apartment building	5
10	January	Texas	Single-family home	5

(1) Fires that kill five or more people in home property, or three or more people in nonhome or nonstructural property.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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THE TEN MOST CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE-DEATH FIRES IN U.S. HISTORY (1)

Rank	Date	Location/event	Deaths
1	Sep. 11, 2001	New York, NY, World Trade Center terrorist attack	2,666 (2)
2	Apr. 27, 1865	Mississippi River, SS Sultana steamship	1,547
3	Oct. 8, 1871	Peshtigo, WI, forest fire	1,152
4	Jun. 15, 1904	New York, NY, General Slocum steamship	1,030
5	Dec. 30, 1903	Chicago, IL, Iroquois Theater	602
6	Oct. 12, 1918	Cloquet, MN, forest fire	559
7	Nov. 28, 1942	Boston, MA, Cocoanut Grove night club	492
8	Apr. 16, 1947	Texas City, TX, SS Grandcamp and Monsanto Chemical Co. plant	468
9	Sep. 1, 1894	Hinckley, MN, forest fire	418
10	Dec. 6, 1907	Monongha, WV, coal mine explosion	361

(1) Fires that kill five or more people in home property, or three or more people in nonhome or nonstructural property.
(2) Revised to 2,976 by government officials.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

THE ELEVEN MOST COSTLY LARGE-LOSS FIRES OF 2011 (1)

($ millions)

Rank	State	Type of facility	Estimated loss
1	Texas	Wildfire	$400
2	California	Plastic products storage	40
3	Texas	Wildfire	40
4	Texas	Plastic products storage	35
5	Kentucky	Chemical manufacturing plant	35
6	Michigan	Vehicle parts assembly plant	22
7	California	Power generation plant	20
8	South Carolina	Fertilizer manufacturing plant	20
9	Nebraska	Office building	20
10	North Carolina	Office building	20
11	Texas	Chemical manufacturing plant	20

(1) Fires/explosions causing $20 million or more in property loss.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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THE TEN MOST COSTLY LARGE-LOSS FIRES IN U.S. HISTORY

($ millions)

			Estimated loss (1)
Rank	Date	Location/event	Dollars when occurred	In 2011 dollars (2)
1	Sep. 11, 2001	World Trade Center (terrorist attacks)	$33,400 (3)	$42,400 (3)
2	Apr. 18, 1906	San Francisco Earthquake and Fire	350	8,700
3	Oct. 8-9, 1871	Great Chicago Fire	168	3,100
4	Oct. 20, 1991	Oakland, CA, fire storm	1,500	2,500
5	Oct. 20, 2007	San Diego County, CA, The Southern California Wildland Fires	1,800	2,000
6	Nov. 9, 1872	Great Boston Fire	75	1,400
7	Oct. 23, 1989	Pasadena, Texas, polyolefin plant	750	1,400
8	May 4, 2000	Los Alamos, NM, Cerro Grande wildland fire	1,000	1,300
9	Oct. 25, 2003	Julian, CA, Wildfire (Cedar)	1,100	1,300
10	Feb. 7, 1904	Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Conflagration	50	1,200

(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimates exists.
(2) Adjustment to 2011 dollars made by the NFPA using the Consumer Price Index, including the U.S. Census Bureau's estimates of the index for historical times.
(3) Differs from estimates from other sources.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

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LARGE LOSS FIRES

March 25, 2011, marks the 100-year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The blaze that swept through a New York City sweatshop killing 146 garment workers ushered in a new era of fire safety in the American workplace, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The September 11, 2001, World Trade Center conflagration was the deadliest, as well as the most costly, building fire in U.S. history.

THE TWENTY DEADLIEST LARGE-LOSS FIRES IN THE UNITED STATES (1)

Rank	Date	Event	Location	Fatalities
1	Sep. 11, 2001	The World Trade Center	New York, NY	2,666
2	Dec. 30, 1903	Iroquois Theatre	Chicago, IL	602
3	Nov. 28, 1942	Cocoanut Grove night club	Boston, MA	492
4	Apr. 21, 1930	Ohio State Penitentiary	Columbus, OH	320
5	Mar. 18, 1937	Consolidated School gas explosion	New London, TX	294
6	Dec. 5, 1876	Conway's Theatre	Brooklyn, NY	285
7	Apr. 23, 1940	Rhythm Club	Natchez, MS	207
8	Mar. 4, 1908	Lakeview Grammar School	Collinwood, OH	175
9	Jan. 12, 1908	Rhodes Opera House	Boyertown, PA	170
10	Jul. 6, 1944	Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus	Hartford, CT	168
10	Apr. 19, 1995	Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building	Oklahoma City, OK	168
12	May 28, 1977	Beverly Hills Supper Club	Southgate, KY	165
13	Mar. 25, 1911	Triangle Shirtwaist Company	New York, NY	146
14	Apr. 10, 1917	Eddystone Ammunition Company plant explosion	Eddystone, PA	133
15	May 15, 1929	Cleveland Clinic Hospital	Cleveland, OH	125
16	Dec. 7, 1946	Winecoff Hotel	Atlanta, GA	119
17	Feb. 20, 2003	The Station Nightclub	W. Warwick, RI	100
18	Dec. 1, 1958	Our Lady of the Angels School	Chicago, IL	95
19	Mar. 25, 1990	Happy Land Social Club	New York, NY	87
20	Nov. 21, 1980	MGM Grand Hotel	Las Vegas, NV	85

(1) Based on deadliest single-builiding or complex fires and explosions.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

Article Source: http://www.iii.org

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