Fire suppression and losses make up around 2.5% of the total U.S. economy, according to the recently released “Total Cost of Fire” report from the NFPA. The agency compiles statistics on the losses caused by fire as well as the money spent on fire prevention and suppression.

“What we are trying to get across to people is the impact of fire on the economy and that it is quite a considerable share of the total U.S. economy,” John Hall, NFPA division director for fire analysis and research, said of the report he authored.

For more than 25 years, the NFPA has complied statistics on the total cost of fire and the impact it has on the U.S. economy. In the current report, showing trends from 1980 through 2007, total cost of fire is estimated at $347 billion of the U.S. economy. Hall said that number includes $18.6 billion in economic loss as well as $17.2 billion in insurance coverage, which has increased 67% since 1980. It also includes $36.8 billion to run career fire departments — an increase of 156%. In addition, the monetary value of donated time from volunteer firefighters equaled $128 billion, and the estimated monetary equivalent for deaths and injuries due to fire is $42.5 billion, with acknowledgement that no amount of money can compensate for the loss of a loved one, he said.

Hall said according to the findings, the cost of local fire protection, namely staffing and running fire departments, has been rising faster than the rate of inflation.

“We don’t know the details of what is driving that but we know it isn’t just people becoming lavish in the pay career firefighters are getting,” he said. “The other factors involved may be volunteer departments shifting to be a career department, which adds cost.”

View the report for additional information.