News & Research

Fire causes

See a table (PDF, 142 KB) that shows the frequency reported fires of different causes by month. Fires were more frequent in months with darker shading.

In This Section

Appliances & equipment Cooking; heating; washing machines & dryers; air conditioners and fans; and more.
Arson and juvenile firesetting Children playing with fire and intentional fires.
Candles Causes and trends in home fires involving candles, candle fire frequency in other occupancies, and selected published incident descriptions
Chemical and gases Natural gas and LP-gas home and non-home fires; spontaneous combustion.
Electrical and consumer electronics
Fireworks Includes injury patterns and trends, including shares by type of fireworks, based on reports to hospital emergency rooms
Holiday Christmas trees, holiday lights and decorations.
Household products Mattresses, bedding and upholstered furniture
Lightning Fires and Lightning Strikes Information on incident type, and when and where the incidents occurred.
Smoking materials Fires involving smoking materials (i.e., tobacco products), including data from other countries, and what materials are most often ignited

NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, 2015 Edition

Protect lives and property with the 2015 NFPA 101®: Life Safety Code®. Get the latest requirements on building design, materials, construction practices, egress, fire protection, smoke barriers, and more. Order today.

Item #: NFPA_101

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