Common causes of commercial fires

10/21/2020 (Permalink)

Year after year, cooking fires remain at the top of the list as a cause of non-residential fires with 25% to 30% of those fires being cooking-related. The fires sometimes started because of human error while cooking and sometimes by an appliance malfunctioning. Arson, or an intentional fire, is the next common cause of a non-residential fire, with roughly 10% of fires occurring from arson. Unfortunately, this type of fire causes the most damage to buildings and the highest number of injuries or death in building occupants. Human error, or unintentional fires, are also responsible for about 10% of fires. Because there are a vast number of reasons why a fire might occur accidentally, employee fire safety training is extremely important. Roughly 9% of fires happen when an HVAC system malfunctions. This includes central heating systems, as well as water heaters, space heaters, and other appliances.