Interventions to Prevent Residential Fire Injury

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reported 402,000 residential fi res in 2003, resulting in 3,165 deaths and incurring $6,074,000,000 in property damage (Karter, 2004). This represented an increase of 17.4% in residential fi re deaths compared to 2002, although the overall number of fi res and property losses did not increase. Residential fi re deaths have been declining steadily since the late 1970s, with a relative plateau since the early 1990s. Smoking materials are the leading cause of fatal residential fi res (20%), with 40% of smoking-related fi re victims being older than 65 years of age (Hall, 2004). Cooking is the leading cause of residential fi res and nonfatal injuries (Hall, 2005). Despite 96% smoke alarm prevalence for U.S. homes with a telephone in 2004, 40% of residential fi res still occur in homes without a smoke alarm, and among homes with alarms, 25% are not functioning at the time of the fi re. In 1999–2001, an average of 70% of residential fi re deaths resulted from fi res in homes with either no smoke alarms or in which no smoke alarm sounded (Ahrens, 2004). Nearly every high-risk group for residential fi re fatality is less likely to install smoke alarms, including the poor, seniors, heavy drinkers, households with less than high school education, and those in rural areas and in the Southern United States (Ahrens, 2004; Hall, 1985; Hall, 1994). In 2002, for all ages combined, fi res and burns were the 6th leading cause of unintentional injury mortality, and the 14th leading cause of nonfatal injury (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2005). Approximately 6% of people with residential fi re-related injuries are hospitalized, with slightly more than half being admitted for carbon monoxide poisoning and the remainder for burns (CDC, 2003). Children and older adults have the highest rates of fi re-related