Fire losses
Fire Losses, 2013-2022 (1)
| Year | Property loss ($ millions) | Loss per capita (2) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $19,054 | 60.29 |
| 2014 | 21,801 | 68.47 |
| 2015 | 19,759 | 61.60 |
| 2016 | 23,789 | 73.63 |
| 2017 | 36,510 | 112.30 |
| 2018 | 46,972 | 143.72 |
| 2019 | 31,614 | 96.29 |
| 2020 | 38,537 | 116.25 |
| 2021 | 44,228 | 133.20 |
| 2022 | 48,355 | 145.08 |
(1) Including allowances for FAIR Plan and uninsured losses.
(2) Calculated by the Insurance Information Institute using ISO property loss and population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division.
Source: ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® business; U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division.
Fire Losses In The United States, By Line Of Insurance, 2022 (1)
Structure fires
Structure Fires, 2013-2022 (1)
| Direct property damage (2) ($ billions) | Direct property damage (2) ($ billions) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Number of fires | As reported | In 2023 dollars (3) | Year | Number of fires | As reported | In 2023 dollars (3) |
| 2013 | 487,500 | $9.5 | $12.4 | 2018 | 499,000 | $11.1 | $13.5 |
| 2014 | 494,000 | 9.8 | 12.6 | 2019 | 481,500 | 12.3 | 14.7 |
| 2015 | 501,500 | 10.3 | 13.2 | 2020 | 490,500 | 12.1 | 14.3 |
| 2016 | 475,500 | 7.8 | 9.9 | 2021 | 486,500 | 12.7 | 14.2 |
| 2017 | 499,000 | 10.7 | 13.4 | 2022 | 522,500 | 15.0 | 15.5 |
(1) Estimates based on data reported by fire departments responding to the 2022 National Fire Experience Survey. May exclude reports from some fire departments.
(2) Does not include damage from major wildfires.
(3) Calculated from unrounded numbers by the Insurance Information Institute using the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator.
Source: Reproduced with permission from Fire Loss in the United States During 2022 by Shelby Hall and Ben Evarts, ©2023 National Fire Protection Association www.nfpa.org.
Reported Fires By Property Use, 2022 (1)
| Property use | Fires | Property loss (2) ($ millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Structures | 522,500 | $15,024 |
| Residential | 382,500 | 10,955 |
| Home | 360,000 | 10,537 |
| One- and two-family homes (3) | 280,000 | 8,626 |
| Apartments and other multi-family | 80,000 | 1,911 |
| Other residential structures (4) | 22,500 | 418 |
| Non-residential (5) | 140,000 | 4,068 |
| Vehicle fire | 222,000 | 2,649 |
| Highway vehicle fire | 188,500 | 1,995 |
| Other vehicle fire | 33,500 | 655 |
| Outside and other fire | 760,000 | 399 |
| Fire outside but no vehicle (6) | 95,000 | 250 |
| Fires in brush, grass, or wildlands (7) | 338,500 | 0 |
| Outside rubbish fire | 235,000 | 0 |
| All other fire | 91,500 | 149 |
| Total | 1,504,500 | $18,072 |
(1) Estimates based on data reported by fire departments responding to the 2022 National Fire Experience Survey. May exclude reports from some fire departments.
(2) Includes overall direct property loss to contents, structures, vehicles, machinery, vegetation or any other property involved in a fire. Excludes indirect losses, such as business interruption or temporary shelter costs.
(3) Includes manufactured homes.
(4) Includes hotels and motels, dormitories, rooming houses, residential board and care properties, and other residential properties.
(5) Public assembly, educational, institutional, retail, office, manufacturing, and industrial or utility properties.
(6) Outside storage, crops, timber, etc.
(7) Excludes crops and timber, with no value or loss involved.
Source: Reproduced with permission from Fire Loss in the United States During 2022 by Shelby Hall and Ben Evarts, ©2023 National Fire Protection Association www.nfpa.org.
Top 10 Costliest Large-Loss Fires, 2021 (1)
| Rank | State | Month | Type of facility | Estimated loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado | December | Wildland/urban interface, Marshall Fire | $678.0 |
| 2 | Illinois | June | Chemical manufacturing | 160.0 |
| 3 | California | November | Textile manufacturing | 128.0 |
| 4 | Wisconsin | February | Ship in for repairs | 100.0 |
| 5 | Tennessee | July | Cereal manufacturing | 98.6 |
| 6 | Nevada | January | Apartments under construction | 35.0 |
| 7 | Tennessee | March | Rubber manufacturing | 35.0 |
| 8 | Colorado | October | Apartment building (81 units) | 30.2 |
| 9 | Texas | February | Warehouse with foam products | 26.0 |
| 10 | California | January | Restaurant | 25.2 |
(1) Large-loss fires of $20 million or more in 2021.
Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.
Source: Reproduced with permission from Large-Loss Fires and Explosions in the United States in 2021 by Stephen G. Badger, ©2023 National Fire Protection Association www.nfpa.org.
Top 10 Costliest Large-Loss Fires In U.S. History
| Estimated loss (1) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Date | Location/event | Dollars when occurred | In 2020 dollars (2) |
| 1 | Sep. 11, 2001 | World Trade Center (terrorist attacks) | $33,400 | $48,900 (3) |
| 2 | Oct. 8, 2017 | Northern CA Wildland Urban Interface fire | 10,000 | 10,600 |
| 3 | Apr. 18, 1906 | San Francisco Earthquake and Fire | 350 | 10,100 |
| 4 | Nov. 8, 2018 | Camp Wildland Urban Interface fire | 8,500 | 8,700 |
| 5 | Aug, 2021 | “Siege” wildfire, Northern California (4) | 4,200 | 4,200 |
| 6 | Oct. 8-9, 1871 | Great Chicago Fire | 168 | 3,600 |
| 7 | July, 2021 | Navy ship under repair, San Diego, California | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 8 | Nov. 8, 2018 | Woolsey Wildland Urban Interface fire | 2,900 | 3,000 |
| 9 | Oct. 20, 1991 | Oakland, CA, firestorm, Wildland Urban Interface fire | 1,500 | 2,900 |
| 10 | Oct. 20, 2007 | San Diego County, CA, The Southern California Firestorm | 1,800 | 2,200 |
(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimates exists.
(2) Adjustment to 2020 dollars made by the National Fire Protection Association using the Consumer Price Index.
(3) Differs from inflation-adjusted estimates made by other organizations due to the use of different collection criteria and deflators.
(4) Includes multiple fires.
Source: ©National Fire Protection Association. www.nfpa.org/research/reports-and-statistics.
Top Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires and Explosions, 2022 (1)
| Rank (2) | Month | State | Type of facility | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January | New York | 120-unit apartment building | 17 |
| 2 | January | Pennsylvania | 2-unit rowhouse | 12 |
| 3 | August | Pennsylvania | Single-family home | 10 |
| 4 | July | Arkansas | Single-family home | 6 |
| 4 | December | New York | Single-family home | 6 |
| 4 | December | Ohio | Single-family home | 6 |
| 4 | December | Tennessee | Single-family home | 6 |
| 5 | February | Pennsylvania | Single-family home | 5 |
| 5 | February | Texas | Single-family home | 5 |
| 5 | March | Illinois | Single-family farmhouse | 5 |
| 5 | April | Pennsylvania | Single-family home | 5 |
| 5 | May | Pennsylvania | Single-family home | 5 |
| 5 | June | Michigan | Single-family home | 5 |
| 5 | September | Pennsylvania | Single-family farmhouse | 5 |
| 6 | July | California | Wildland | 4 |
| 6 | July | New Mexico | Wildland | 4 |
| 6 | December | Florida | Warehouse | 4 |
(1) Fires or explosions that kill five or more people in residential property, or three or more people in nonhome or nonstructural property.
(2) Fires with the same number of deaths receive the same rank.
Source: National Fire Protection Association. www.nfpa.org.
Top 10 Most Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires In U.S. History (1)
| Rank | Date | Location/event | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep. 11, 2001 | New York, NY, World Trade Center terrorist attack | 2,666 (2) |
| 2 | Apr. 27, 1865 | Mississippi River, SS Sultana steamship | 1,547 |
| 3 | Oct. 8, 1871 | Peshtigo, WI, forest fire | 1,152 |
| 4 | Jun. 15, 1904 | New York, NY, General Slocum steamship | 1,030 |
| 5 | Dec. 30, 1903 | Chicago, IL, Iroquois Theater | 602 |
| 6 | Oct. 12, 1918 | Cloquet, MN, forest fire | 559 |
| 7 | Nov. 28, 1942 | Boston, MA, Cocoanut Grove night club | 492 |
| 8 | Apr. 16, 1947 | Texas City, TX, SS Grandcamp and Monsanto Chemical Co. plant | 468 |
| 9 | Sep. 1, 1894 | Hinckley, MN, forest fire | 418 |
| 10 | Dec. 6, 1907 | Monongha, WV, coal mine explosion | 361 |
(1) Fires that kill five or more people in home property, or three or more people in nonhome or nonstructural property.
(2) Revised to 2,976 by government officials.
Source: Reproduced with permission, © 2020, National Fire Protection Association www.nfpa.org.
Large loss fires
Top 20 Deadliest Large-Loss Fires in U.S. History (1)
| Rank | Date | Event | Location | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep. 11, 2001 | The World Trade Center | New York, NY | 2,666 (2) |
| 2 | Dec. 30, 1903 | Iroquois Theatre | Chicago, IL | 602 |
| 3 | Nov. 28, 1942 | Cocoanut Grove night club | Boston, MA | 492 |
| 4 | Apr. 21, 1930 | Ohio State Penitentiary | Columbus, OH | 320 |
| 5 | Mar. 18, 1937 | Consolidated School gas explosion | New London, TX | 294 |
| 6 | Dec. 5, 1876 | Conway’s Theatre | Brooklyn, NY | 285 |
| 7 | Apr. 23, 1940 | Rhythm Club | Natchez, MS | 207 |
| 8 | Mar. 4, 1908 | Lakeview Grammar School | Collinwood, OH | 175 |
| 9 | Jan. 12, 1908 | Rhodes Opera House | Boyertown, PA | 170 |
| 10 | Jul. 6, 1944 | Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus | Hartford, CT | 168 |
| 10 | Apr. 19, 1995 | Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building | Oklahoma City, OK | 168 |
| 12 | May 28, 1977 | Beverly Hills Supper Club | Southgate, KY | 165 |
| 13 | Mar. 25, 1911 | Triangle Shirtwaist Company | New York, NY | 146 |
| 14 | Apr. 10, 1917 | Eddystone Ammunition Company plant explosion | Eddystone, PA | 133 |
| 15 | May 15, 1929 | Cleveland Clinic Hospital | Cleveland, OH | 125 |
| 16 | Dec. 7, 1946 | Winecoff Hotel | Atlanta, GA | 119 |
| 17 | Feb. 20, 2003 | The Station Nightclub | W. Warwick, RI | 100 |
| 18 | Dec. 1, 1958 | Our Lady of the Angels School | Chicago, IL | 95 |
| 19 | Mar. 25, 1990 | Happy Land Social Club | New York, NY | 87 |
| 20 | Nov. 21, 1980 | MGM Grand Hotel | Las Vegas, NV | 85 |
(1) Based on deadliest single-builiding or complex fires and explosions.
(2) Revised to 2,976 by government officials
Source: National Fire Protection Association. www.nfpa.org
