Facts about home heating fires

  • From 2013-2015, an average of 45,900 home heating fires occurred in the United States each year. These fires caused an annual average of approximately 205 deaths, 725 injuries and $506 million in property loss.
  • Heating was the second leading cause of home fires after cooking.
  • Home heating fires peaked in the early evening hours between 5 and 9 p.m. with the highest peak between 6 and 8 p.m. This four-hour period accounted for 29 percent of all home heating fires.
  • Home heating fires peaked in January (21 percent) and declined to the lowest point from June to August.
  • Confined fires — fires confined to chimneys, flues or fuel burners — accounted for 75 percent of home heating fires.
  • Twenty-nine percent of the non-confined home heating fires — fires that spread past the object of origin — happened because the heat source (like a space heater or fire place) was too close to things that can burn.