by Brianna Crandall — June 2, 2014—The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently released an updated report on the total cost of fire in the United States that showed that the total cost of fire in 2011 was estimated at $329 billion, or roughly 2.1% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Adjusted for inflation, the total cost represents a 34% increase over 1980, while its proportion of U.S. gross domestic product has declined by about one-third. However, both the total cost of fire and its associated percentage of GDP have been roughly steady for the past decade and a half.
In 2011, the total cost of fire was an estimated $329 billion, or 2.1% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
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The core total cost of fire is defined as the sum of economic loss (e.g. property damage, business interruption) and the cost of provisions to prevent or mitigate the cost of fire (e.g. fire departments, insurance, and the fire protection part of construction).
The complete total cost of fires adds costs that cannot be measured every year or do not involve direct payments. This includes costs of compliance with fire safety standards for equipment and other products, the value of the time donated by volunteer firefighters, human loss (e.g. lives lost, medical treatment, pain and suffering), and federal government costs for fighting wildfires.
Following are other key findings from the report:
In 2011, economic losses to fire (direct and indirect, reported and unreported) totaled an estimated $14.9 billion. The year 2001 data in the graph excludes the events of September 11.
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- Although the core total cost of fire has increased by 40% from 1980 to 2011 to a total of $108.4 billion, the economic loss due to fire decreased by 31%, totaling $14.9 billion, with all figures adjusted for inflation.
- Fires in 2011 caused $13.3 billion in direct property damage (reported or unreported), which represented 89% of economic loss that year. The other 11 percent was indirect loss, such as temporary housing and business interruption.
- New building construction for fire protection was estimated to cost $31 billion in 2011.
The Total Cost of Fire in the United States report is available on the NFPA Web site.
