Table 1

Characteristics of fire or burns victims, injuries and deaths among all ages in the USA, NVDRS, 2003–2020 (n=4395)

CharacteristicsVictims, No (%)
OverallSuicideHomicideUndetermined
Total4395 (100.0)1708 (38.9)1433 (32.6)1254 (28.5)
Person type
Victim4328 (98.5)1649 (96.6)**
Both victim and suspect†67 (1.5)59 (3.5)**
Age group, years
Under 5218 (5.0)0 (0.0)159 (11.2)59 (4.7)
5–19317 (7.2)50 (2.9)173 (12.1)94 (7.5)
20–441593 (36.4)686 (40.2)538 (37.8)369 (29.6)
45–641591 (36.3)749 (43.9)387 (27.2)455 (36.5)
65 and over659 (15.1)221 (13.0)168 (11.8)270 (21.7)
Unknown/missing (n=17)‡
Sex
Male2839 (64.6)1211 (70.9)836 (58.4)792 (63.2)
Female1553 (35.34)496 (29.1)596 (41.6)461 (36.8)
Unknown/missing (n=3)‡
Race and ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic2668 (60.8)1216 (71.3)638 (44.6)814 (65.0)
Black or African American, non-Hispanic932 (21.2)206 (12.1)482 (33.7)244 (19.5)
American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic95 (2.2)22 (1.3)28 (2.0)45 (3.6)
Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic154 (3.5)92 (5.4)27 (1.9)35 (2.8)
Other/unspecified, non-Hispanic34 (0.8)*17 (1.2)*
Two or more races, non-Hispanic92 (2.1)*40 (2.8)*
Hispanic, any race414 (9.4)133 (7.8)199 (13.9)82 (6.6)
Unknown/missing (n=6)‡
Injury location type
House, apartment2983 (71.4)1008 (62.0)986 (72.6)989 (82.9)
Motor vehicle/transportation§512 (12.3)291 (17.9)143 (10.5)78 (6.5)
Business/commercial area¶215 (5.1)83 (5.1)74 (5.4)58 (4.9)
Outdoor or recreation area**214 (5.1)116 (7.1)**
Public road, street, railroad tracks, bridge††203 (4.9)105 (6.5)72 (5.3)26 (2.2)
School or institution‡‡50 (1.2)23 (1.4)**
Unknown/missing (n=218)‡
Injury region§§
South1586 (37.6)577 (34.5)611 (46.0)398 (32.5)
Mid-West999 (23.7)367 (21.9)310 (23.4)322 (26.3)
West826 (19.6)379 (22.6)212 (16.0)235 (19.2)
Northeast813 (19.3)351 (21.0)194 (14.6)268 (21.9)
Not applicable/unknown/missing (n=171)দ
  • Column percentage may not sum to 100.0% because of rounding error.

  • *Cell frequency <10, masked.

  • †The person was both a victim and suspect (ie, the person killed someone else and then died by suicide).

  • ‡Unknown, missing and not applicable values were omitted from the denominator when calculating percentages.

  • §Includes motor vehicle; public transportation or station (eg, bus, train, plane, airport, depot, taxi); and parking lot/public parking garage.

  • ¶Includes service station; industrial or construction areas (eg, factory, warehouse); office building; bar, nightclub; liquor store; other; hotel/motel; and abandoned house, building or warehouse.

  • **Includes natural area (eg, field, river, beaches, woods); park, playground, public use area; cemetery, graveyard or other burial ground; sports or athletic area (eg, stadium, baseball field, gymnasium, recreation centre); and farm.

  • ††Includes street, road, sidewalk, alley; highway, freeway; railroad tracks (ie, other than public transportation or station); bridge.

  • ‡‡Includes elementary school, middle school (ie, k-8), including school dormitory, residential school; high school, including school dormitory, residential school; unspecified school; supervised residential facility (eg, shelter, halfway house, group home); jail, prison, detention facility; synagogue, church, temple; mosque, shrine, tabernacle, cathedral; and hospital or medical facility.

  • §§States are grouped into the US regions: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/guidance-geographies/levels.html%23par_textimage_34.

  • ¶¶Includes Puerto Rico.

  • NVDRS, National Violent Death Reporting System.