One and two family dwellings account for 70 percent of residential fires, 70 perent of residential fire deaths, 61 percent of residential injuries and 74 percent of residential fire property loss. Multi-family housing accounts for 23 percent of fires, 16 perent of deaths, 31 percent of injuries and 19 percent of dollar loss of the residential fire category.
Theis a breakout as to where in the dwelling unit serious fires occur is different between one and two family homes, and mult-family housing. Thus we have put this information into separate charts.
| Location of Fire | Percentage of Fires | Percentage of Deaths | Percentage of Injuries |
| Kitchen/Cooking Area | 23.5 | 14.3 | 27.1 |
| Sleeping Area | 12.7 | 22.0 | 24.2 |
| Lounge Area | 7.9 | 27.6 | 14.8 |
| Laundry Room | 4.7 | 2.2 | 3.1 |
| Chimney | 7.1 | % not available | % not available |
| Unknown | 6.9 | 11.3 | 3.8 |
Manufactured Housing. Manufactured housing has historically represented a severe problem in terms of fire fatalities, more than double the rate of conventional homes. However, with the establishment of strict standards by HUD in 1976, this problem has been reduced substantially, but still remains a significant problem. Electrical distribution is the leading cause of fires in manufactured housing, with heating a close second. However, it is unclear whether units constructed prior to 1976 may account for the still higher than conventional fire rates.
Apartment Fires. The one major difference with respect to the distributionof fires in apartments, is that heating is less of a problem, as most apartments have professional maintained heating and air conditioning systems. The two largest problems in apartment fires are cooking and smoking.
Click here for Causes of Non-Residential Fires
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