Heating safety statistics show two connected risks in the United States: unsafe warmth can contribute to residential fires, while inadequate warmth is associated with excessive-cold and hypothermia deaths. The measures below cover residential-building fire estimates, equipment involvement and national mortality series, with periods and definitions stated for each result.
Key Heating Safety Statistics
The most broadly useful heating safety figures include:
- 27,900 estimated residential-building heating fires occurred in the United States in 2023.
- 115 estimated civilian deaths resulted from U.S. residential-building heating fires in 2023.
- 525 estimated civilian injuries resulted from U.S. residential-building heating fires in 2023.
- $488.0 million in constant 2023 dollars was the estimated U.S. residential heating-fire property loss in 2023.
- 34,200 residential-building heating fires per year was the U.S. average during 2017–2019.
- 165 civilian deaths per year was the U.S. residential-building heating-fire average during 2017–2019.
- 600 civilian injuries per year was the U.S. residential-building heating-fire average during 2017–2019.
- January represented 20% of U.S. residential-building heating-fire incidents during 2017–2019.
- 77% of U.S. residential-building heating fires during 2017–2019 were confined fires involving chimneys, flues or fuel burners.
- 27% of nonconfined U.S. residential-building heating fires during 2017–2019 involved heat sources too close to combustibles.
- 1,700 portable-heater fires per year was the U.S. average during 2017–2019.
- 70 deaths per year resulted from U.S. portable-heater fires on average during 2017–2019.
- 15,800 fireplace- and chimney-involved fires per year was the U.S. average during 2017–2019.
- 16,911 U.S. deaths were associated with exposure to excessive natural cold during 1999–2011.
- 1,536 deaths was the highest annual total in the CDC’s 1999–2011 U.S. excessive-cold series, recorded in 2010.
- 0.93 deaths per 100,000 population was the 2018–2020 excessive-cold/hypothermia death rate for males in noncore rural U.S. counties.
Contents
- Key Heating Safety Statistics
- The scale of residential heating fires
- Heating fire deaths and injuries over time
- Heating fire property losses and recent trends
- When and how residential heating fires start
- Portable heater, fireplace and chimney safety data
- Cold exposure and hypothermia outcomes
The Scale of Residential Heating Fires
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) estimated residential-building heating fires across the United States from 2014 through 2023. The series is based on fire-department reporting, and the agency presents the values as rounded national estimates.
| Year | Estimated residential-building heating fires |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 47,600 |
| 2015 | 41,200 |
| 2016 | 35,100 |
| 2017 | 33,800 |
| 2018 | 35,700 |
| 2019 | 33,100 |
| 2020 | 33,000 |
| 2021 | 32,200 |
| 2022 | 34,800 |
| 2023 | 27,900 |
Source: Residential Building Heating Fire Trends (2014-2023). USFA notes that data-collection strategies and methods can change, so comparisons across versions require care.
The highest displayed estimate was 47,600 fires in 2014, while the lowest was 27,900 in 2023. These are estimates for residential buildings, not a count of every heating-related fire in every setting.
Heating Fire Deaths and Injuries Over Time
USFA’s national residential-building estimates show that the human outcomes varied from year to year alongside the fire totals. The figures below refer to civilian deaths and injuries in U.S. residential buildings.
| Year | Estimated deaths | Estimated civilian injuries |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 245 | 850 |
| 2015 | 165 | — |
| 2016 | 165 | — |
| 2017 | 195 | 575 |
| 2018 | 155 | 575 |
| 2019 | 145 | 675 |
| 2020 | 125 | 575 |
| 2021 | 190 | 625 |
| 2022 | 110 | 650 |
| 2023 | 115 | 525 |
Source: Residential Building Heating Fire Trends (2014-2023). The injury series supplied for this comparison does not include values for 2015 and 2016.
The 2023 estimate was 115 deaths and 525 injuries, compared with 245 deaths and 850 injuries in 2014. Because the figures are rounded national estimates derived from fire-department reporting, a change between two years should not be treated as a precise measure of underlying risk without considering the agency’s methodological caveat.
For the separate 2017–2019 USFA topical report, residential-building heating fires averaged 34,200 fires, 165 deaths and 600 injuries per year in the United States. The report estimated average annual property loss at $367 million for that period; its averages are not interchangeable with the 2014–2023 series’ individual-year values.
Source: Heating Fires in Residential Buildings (2017-2019).
Heating Fire Property Losses and Recent Trends
USFA reported residential heating-fire property losses in constant 2023 dollars, allowing the displayed series to be read in inflation-adjusted terms. These estimates represent property loss associated with residential-building heating fires in the United States, not nominal spending in each year.
| Year | Estimated loss, constant 2023 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2014 | $777.7 million |
| 2015 | $504.4 million |
| 2016 | $439.1 million |
| 2017 | $397.4 million |
| 2018 | $497.9 million |
| 2019 | $418.4 million |
| 2020 | $445.7 million |
| 2021 | $497.0 million |
| 2022 | $587.8 million |
| 2023 | $488.0 million |
Source: Residential Building Heating Fire Trends (2014-2023). The series is adjusted for inflation to constant 2023 dollars and rounded as displayed.
The series reached $777.7 million in 2014 and was $488.0 million in 2023. The 2022 estimate was $587.8 million, so the 2023 value was lower in this constant-dollar series even though property loss remained a substantial measured outcome.
When and How Residential Heating Fires Start
The USFA’s 2017–2019 report adds context about timing, fire classification and contributing conditions. These percentages describe reported heating-fire distributions and should not be read as risk per hour of heater use.
- Residential-building heating fires peaked in the early evening from 5 to 9 p.m., with the highest peak from 6 to 8 p.m.
- January accounted for 20% of residential-building heating-fire incidence, making it the seasonal peak in the report.
- Confined fires involving chimneys, flues or fuel burners accounted for 77% of residential-building heating fires.
- Heat sources were too close to combustibles in 27% of nonconfined residential-building heating fires.
- Smoke alarms were present in 56% of nonconfined heating fires in occupied residential buildings.
The denominator matters for the 27% figure: it applies to nonconfined fires, not all heating fires. Likewise, smoke-alarm presence does not establish that an alarm operated or prevented harm.
Source: Heating Fires in Residential Buildings (2017-2019).
Portable Heater, Fireplace and Chimney Safety Data
CPSC estimates distinguish equipment involvement from the broader USFA residential-building heating-fire series. The categories below cover the United States during 2017–2019, and “involved” does not necessarily mean that every fire originated in the appliance.
| Equipment category | Fires per year | Deaths per year | Injuries per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portable heaters | 1,700 | 70 | 160 |
| Fireplaces and chimneys | 15,800 | 20 | 50 |
Source: CPSC Warns Consumers to be Cautious When Using Space Heaters, Furnaces and Fireplaces This Winter.
Portable heaters, including electric space heaters, were involved in an average of 1,700 fires per year and caused 70 deaths and 160 injuries per year. Fireplaces and chimneys were involved in an average of 15,800 fires per year, with 20 deaths and 50 injuries per year.
These CPSC involvement estimates are not interchangeable with USFA’s residential-building heating-fire estimates because the categories, agency methods and stated scopes differ.
Cold Exposure and Hypothermia Outcomes Linked to Inadequate Warmth
Cold-exposure mortality provides a broader outcome measure than heating-equipment safety. CDC definitions include deaths associated with excessive natural cold and hypothermia, so these figures are not limited to household heating failures or unsafe heater use.
The CDC recorded 16,911 U.S. deaths associated with exposure to excessive natural cold during 1999–2011, an average of 1,301 deaths per year. The highest annual total in that series was 1,536 deaths in 2010, and the lowest was 1,058 deaths in 2006; 2011 data were preliminary.
Approximately 67% of deaths in the 1999–2011 series were among males. In the separate CDC 1979–2002 series, 16,555 U.S. deaths were attributed to exposure to excessive natural cold, averaging 689 per year, and 52% of reported hypothermia deaths were among people aged over 65.
Source: Hypothermia-Related Deaths — United States, 2003–2004.
| Population or geography | Period | Reported rate or count |
|---|---|---|
| Females, large central metro counties | 2018–2020 | 0.11 deaths per 100,000 |
| Females, noncore rural counties | 2018–2020 | 0.40 deaths per 100,000 |
| Males, large central metro counties | 2018–2020 | 0.29 deaths per 100,000 |
| Males, large fringe metro counties | 2018–2020 | 0.24 deaths per 100,000 |
| Males, noncore rural counties | 2018–2020 | 0.93 deaths per 100,000 |
Source: QuickStats: Death Rates Attributed to Excessive Cold or Hypothermia, by Urbanization Level and Sex — National Vital Statistics System, 2018–2020. These are crude vital-statistics rates using ICD-10 X31/T68; they do not directly measure home-heating conditions.
For 2002, CDC reported 646 hypothermia-related deaths and a rate of 0.2 per 100,000 population. State rates that year were 3.0 per 100,000 in Alaska, 0.9 in New Mexico, 0.9 in North Dakota and 0.8 in Montana; state climate and small-area context matter when interpreting those comparisons.