At a Glance
Risk by age:
Adults ages 55 or older
had a greater relative risk of fire death than the general population.
Adults ages 85 or older
had the highest relative risk of fire death.
Children ages
4 and younger
had a relative risk of fire death that was 50% less than that of the general population. This did not change from 2019 to 2021 and is the lowest relative risk for this age group since the mid-1970s.
Adults ages 25 to 74 and 80 to 84
had a greater relative risk of fire injury than the general population.
Risk by region:
People living in the Midwest and South
had the greatest relative risk of dying in a fire when compared to populations living in other regions of the United States.
Risk by sex:
Males
were 1.6 times more likely to die in fires than females.
Risk by race:
African Americans and American Indians/ Alaska Natives
were at a greater relative risk of dying in a fire than the general population.