Common Cause of House Fires and Prevention Methods

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October 17, 2018
Common Cause of House Fires and Prevention Methods
It is estimated that about 358,500 cases of house fires happen every year in the United States alone. Consequently, more than 2,500 deaths, 12,000 fire-related injuries, and $6.7 billion direct damage has been caused by these accidents (Ahrens). However, despite the knowledge of the grave dangers posed by house fires, it is surprising that many cases still happen every year even with the increasing use of anti-fire systems and other equipment against it. In order to further reduce this number, it is a necessity to focus on prevention rather than action, once it happens. However, I believe that even before learning about the preventive techniques on fire prevention, a deeper understanding of the cause and effect of fires is necessary.
In the reports released by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently, the major causes of house fires (and related injuries) in almost every state are cooking equipment, heating equipment, and smoking (Ahrens). Particularly, cooking appliances that are left open and faulty heating appliances have cause most of the major fires that have been recorded in the past few years. For example, faulty heating appliances are said to cause house fires when their fail-safe systems are not working. These heating appliances should have a thermostat that prevents them from operating once they reach a certain temperature. However, as these internal thermostats fail to work, the heater, as well as flammable materials around it, could then melt causing fires. Another example stated abo...