Analysts with the U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Data Center say the most recent data collected by the National Fire Incident Reporting System reflect a change in the leading cause of residential structure fire civilian fatalities.

The 1,029 fires reported to NFIRS in 2002 put incendiary/suspicious as the top cause of residential structure fire civilian fatalities by a narrow margin over smoking. During the 10-year period from 1992 to 2001, smoking was the leading cause of residential structure fire fatalities every year, except for 2000 when incendiary/suspicious led.

Incendiary/suspicious- and smoking-caused fires continue to be responsible for nearly half of all residential structure fire civilian fatalities, leading other causes by a wide margin.

In 2002 NFIRS data, the top five leading causes of residential structure fire fatalities were incendiary/suspicious (23.9%), followed by smoking (21.6%); heating (13.6%); open flame (11.4%); and other heat (9.3%). Cooking, which was the third leading cause of fire fatalities in 2001 (11.2%), dropped to sixth in 2002 (5.4%). The 493 fires with unknown causes were distributed proportionately among those of known cause.

Part of the reason for the increase in the percentage rank order of incendiary/suspicious fires is the success in reducing accidental and careless fires, or detecting them early enough to prevent fatalities. Smoking deaths may occur because the careless smoker has fallen asleep or is incapacitated and unable to escape the ensuing fire.