A Quarter of All Fires Start *Where?* | SERVPRO® of West Milwaukee

1/9/2022 (Permalink)

Fire is a nightmare (sometimes literally). The threat of losing one’s home to the mouth of an angry flame should be enough to cause any homeowner to take every conceivable precaution to stop it from happening—or so it would seem.

But the facts show us that a quarter of all reported fires still happen at home, and a large portion of them are highly preventable.

So let’s dig in and look at the most common causes of home fires, to reveal just what we’re letting slip. Getting a grip on these safety needs could save you a regrettable, fiery mishap.

Cooking. Cooking stands head and shoulders above all other causes of home fires, and the top cause of cooking fires is actually unattended cooking. You read that correctly—the top cause of all 350,000 annual home fires in the United States could be prevented by paying more attention in the kitchen.

Heating equipment. Heaters are an inherent fire risk, because what they do is built on combustion. This creates problems, of course, especially when objects are left close to heat sources. And portable space heaters are notorious for starting fires as they tip over or overload circuits.

Electrical fires. This category has the most appearances of non-preventable occurrences, but still a great deal of electrical fires are within your power (pardon the pun) to prevent. Overusing extension cords, overloading circuits, neglecting needed maintenance and upgrades and even putting high-wattage bulbs into lower-wattage light sockets all contribute to these sparky fires.

Intentional fires. It’s almost inconceivable, but the U.S. sees 28,000 intentional home fires every year. These aren’t, for example, fires originally set on purpose in order to cook something—these are intentional uses of combustibles to set some piece of property on fire.

Smoking materials. While it ranks lowest on the list for number of occurrences, fire caused by cigarettes and smoking materials actually causes more civilian casualties than any other type of home fire. If you smoke, do it safely, and never do it while you’re drowsy.

Regardless of the cause, SERVPRO is here for you if your home is affected by fire. Contact your local team today to see how we can help.