USFA Releases Attic Fires in Residential Buildings Report

[mark handler]

USFA Releases Attic Fires in Residential Buildings Report

EMMITSBURG, Maryland

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) issued a special report today examining the characteristics of Attic Fires in Residential Buildings. Developed by USFA's National Fire Data Center, the report is based on 2006 to 2008 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

According to the report:

•An estimated 10,000 attic fires in residential buildings occur annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 30 deaths, 125 injuries, and $477 million in property damage.

•The leading cause of all attic fires is electrical malfunction (43 percent).

•The most common heat source is electrical arcing (37 percent).

•Almost all residential building attic fires are nonconfined (99 percent) and a third of all residential building attic fires spread to involve the entire building.

•Ninety percent of residential attic fires occur in one- and two-family residential buildings.

•Residential building attic fires are most prevalent in December (12 percent) and January (11 percent) and peak between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m.

Attic Fires in Residential Buildings is part of the USFA's Topical Fire Report Series. Topical reports explore facets of the U.S. fire problem that USFA shares with fire departments and first responders around the country to help them keep their communities safe. Each report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information. Also included are recent examples of fire incidents that demonstrate some of the issues addressed in the report or that put the report topic in context.

For further information regarding topical reports or any programs and training available from the U.S. Fire Administration, visit www.usfa.dhs.gov.

 

[brudgers]

The ICC needs to require SFR attics to be sprinklered.

 

[mark handler]

The ICC needs to require SFR attics to be sprinklered.

Give them time, they maybe waiting for the old farts to die out

 

[hlfireinspector]

I have seen numerouse fires in attics that the homeowners were unaware of the fire untill a neighbor banged on the door. This is the reason I elected to install smoke detectors in my attic at both pull down stairs. I know they are not listed for this use but I chose to install they anyway.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Mark,

We only got about one or two more codes left in our old bones, lol

Please keep in mind that all these fire statistics are voluntary; meaning that Fire Departments are not required to submit reports to these organizations.

However, you are going to see an increase in attic fires in Single Family Resident attics. The major homebuilders; like KB Homes, all the Lennar family of home builders, Milburn and several others; put gas fired water heaters and HVAC furnaces in attics and did not support them per code or sufficiently.

Example: Lennar has built thousands of two story SFRs with two each gas fired water heaters and two each HVAC furnaces in the attic that were not sufficiently supported and the water heaters WILL eventually fall through the platforms they are installed on.

I have seen several water heaters break the flooring and were tilted at final inspection; and, no they did not get away with it on my watch.

Watch for it over the next 10 years,

Uncle Bob

 

[mark handler]

please keep in mind that all these fire statistics are voluntary; meaning that fire departments are not required to submit reports to these organizations.

Uncle bob

So that means there are more fires than are in the Report statistics