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7310934 
Technical Report 
The total cost of fire in the United States 
Hall, JR 
2014 
National Fire Protection Association 
Quincy, MA 
NFPA No. USS13 
English 
The total cost of fire in the United States, as it is defined for this report, is a combination of the losses caused by fire and the money spent on fire prevention, protection and mitigation to prevent worse losses, by preventing them, containing them, detecting them quickly, and suppressing them effectively. For 2011, that total cost is estimated at $329 billion, or roughly 2.1% of U.S. gross domestic product. Economic loss (property damage) – direct or indirect – represents only $14.9 billion of this total. The net costs of insurance coverage ($20.2 billion), the cost of career fire departments ($42.3 billion), new building costs for fire protection ($31.0 billion), other economic costs ($48.9 billion), the monetary value of donated time from volunteer firefighters ($139.8 billion), and the estimated monetary equivalent for the civilian and firefighter deaths and injuries due to fire ($31.7 billion), all are larger components than property loss. Several of the formulas used have been reworked, with results recalculated back to 1980. 
Fire statistics; cost; loss estimates; fire losses; economic loss 
Other
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