Top 5 Leading Causes of Home Fires

9/18/2020 (Permalink)

The majority of candle fires occur when household objects are too close to the flame

5 Leading Causes of Home Fires

Fire is extremely dangerous and can quickly consume your home if you're not careful. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a fire department must respond to a home fire somewhere in the United States approximately every 24 seconds. Avoid letting your home in Mount Pleasant, TN, become part of that statistic by studying the top five causes of residential fires.

1. Cooking Fires
A kitchen fire is most likely to break out when you leave your oven or stove unattended. It's important to remember that these appliances create open flames and must be monitored carefully. Home cooking fires cause approximately $1 billion in property damages, 4,320 fire injuries, and 550 deaths each year.

2. Candle Fires
Candles may seem completely safe, which makes it easy for people to forget that they still host open flames. The majority of candle fires occur when household objects, such as curtains and other types of furniture, are kept too close to the flame.

3. Smoking
Smoking is one of the most heinous culprits when it comes to home fire causes and deaths, accounting for about 23% of all residential fire deaths. This often occurs while someone is carelessly smoking indoors and their cigarette or cigar catches on nearby combustible objects.

4. Fireworks
Unsurprisingly, residential fires caused by fireworks peak around holidays, such as the 4th of July. These typically occur when fireworks are set off too close to home structures, or when hot debris from the explosion falls into dry brush.

5. Lightning
Lightning fires are most common during storm season and account for approximately $451 million in property damage every year. Lightning fires often tend to be larger and more dangerous than ones caused by humans.
These are only five of the leading home fire causes in the United States. There are countless other ways a fire could break out in your home, so it's important to stay vigilant and take the proper precautions. Contact fire remediation experts for more information, or if you need fire cleaning assistance following an incident.