Despite our vast technological advances, these truths remain: During a fire today, you have less time to safely exit your burning home than at any time in history. Your chance of dying in a fire today is higher than 40 years ago.
Fire deaths, injuries and displacement disproportionately affect lower income communities and people of color. Safe and affordable housing should not be mutually exclusive. A compounding problem in cities across America is that those who survive are displaced long term or become homeless due to a lack of personal or local resources.
Additional fire facts
- Technology including micromobility products powered by lithium-ion batteries are providing a new wave of fire causes.
- Automatic fire suppression systems like sprinklers save lives, yet resistance to these devices remains.
- 99 million people or a third of the U.S. population now live in the WUI environment, yet most have no idea what the WUI is or the dangers that it poses.
- Fire departments across the United States, both career and volunteer, are experiencing dramatic personnel shortages. This situation is a national problem and without intervention will continue to degrade the ability to meet emergency call volume demand throughout the country. We must invest in initiatives that encourage individuals to become active in career and volunteer fire service organizations in roles ranging from firefighter to emergency medical technician, paramedic, inspector, investigator, plans examiner, data analyst and community risk reduction expert.
Fire is everyone’s fight. The USFA cannot do it alone. We need every national, state and local fire service agency to engage. We also need every individual to act to make themselves savable. Whether it is a smoke alarm, a fire sprinkler or closing the doors, help firefighters help you. Together we can save lives.