Professionals Against Fire – Progress But Still Room for Improvement

Annual fires in structures have declined from 1,098,000 events in 1977 to 475,000 in 2016.

This 57% decline over a roughly forty-year span is largely driven by the updates to the National Electric Code (NEC) authored by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) every three years. First published in 1897, this guide currently measures at about 1,000 pages. The NFPA reviews statistical data, changes in lifestyles, upgrades to appliances, and new discoveries about the fire resistance characteristics of various materials in developing its guidelines.

The table above of data at roughly ten-year intervals point to how effective industry leaders, public safety advocates and the NFPA efforts have been. Still, with annual deaths exceeding 2,500 there is room for improvement and a need for continued vigilance.

The attached Fire Loss Clock published by the NFPA gives a sense of how frequently lives are impacted by fire and its attendant consequences.