A nationwide survey conducted by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers reveals that 79% of Americans feel safer from fires at home than in a public building with an additional 9% feeling equally safe in both locations.

These results are inconsistent with government statistics that show that home fires outnumber all other building fires by more than three to one. At the same time, most fire deaths and injuries occur in the home. That is because public buildings are subject to tough fire-safety regulations and inspections, whereas most homes are not.

"Most public buildings and commercial office buildings are much better protected than homes," says SFPE's Engineering Program Manager Chris Jelenewicz. "This is because fire protection engineers implement fire-safety strategies and technologies into building the design and construction of commercial buildings."

Fire protection engineers are responsible for designing ways to protect people from fire. They use the latest technologies to design systems that control fires, alert people to danger and provide means for escape. Fire protection engineers also conduct fire safety research on consumer products and construction materials and investigate fires to discover why protective measures failed, and how those measures could have been designed more effectively.

Similar results were found in a 2005 survey conducted by SFPE, where 87% of Americans believed they were safer from fires at home than in a public building.

"It's disheartening to see that public perception is not changing," Jelenewicz said.

Along with the false sense of security at home, the survey also found that 44% think about the dangers of fire twice a year or less.

The survey was conducted in January by Synovate. It polled more than 1,000 American adults. The findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.