The United States has a severe fire problem, more so than is generally perceived. Nationally, there are millions of fires, thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollar loss - which makes the U.S. fire problem one of great national importance. Between 1996 and 2005, an average of 3,932 Americans lost their lives and another 20,919 were injured annually as the result of fire. These averages do not reflect the events of September 11, 2001.

The following table shows the number of fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss in the United States from 1996 to 2005.

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