High-rise building fires

This report provides an overall statistical perspective on the fire experience in high-rise buildings, including analysis and discussion of risk in high-rise vs. other properties. In 2007-2011, there were an average of 15,400 reported structure fires in high-rise buildings per year and associated losses of 46 civilian deaths, 530 civilian injuries, and $219 million in direct property damage per year. Four property classes account for half of high-rise fires: apartment buildings, hotels, office buildings, and facilities that care for the sick. Automatic fire protection equipment and fire-resistive construction are more common in high-rise buildings that have fires than in other buildings of the same property use that have fires. The risks of fire, fire death, and direct property damage due to fire tend to be lower in high-rise buildings than in shorter buildings of the same property use.