Fire Fatalities and Mortality Rate In Tennessee

As of August 10th, 2023, 108 accidental or undetermined civilian structure fire fatalities have been reported for 2022. 

Year-to-date: How do this year's unintentional fire fatalities compare to previous years? 

What is Fire Mortality? 
Experts measure progress over time by utilizing mortality rates of fire deaths. This method also takes into account population changes over time to measure the number of fire deaths proportional to a population. The Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office focuses on unintentional, residential fire deaths when it comes to measuring the fire mortality rate. 

Tennessee now 10th in the Nation

Tennessee historically has had a high fire mortality rate along with many other southern states. In fact, 9 of the top 10 highest fire mortality states are located in the U.S. Census Southern Regions. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reported Tennessee’s 2006-2010 fire mortality rate to be 19.3 deaths per million, which means for every 1 million people in Tennessee, 19.3 deaths occur annually. The 19.3 deaths per million rate gave Tennessee the nation’s 8th highest fire mortality rate in 2010.

In 2019, NFPA released an updated report on the nation's fire mortality rates. Tennessee's fire mortality rate grew from 15.8 deaths per million (2010-2014) to 16.3 deaths per million (2015-2019), a 3% increase.  This growth unscores the importance of continuing work in fire prevention statewide.

Our Response: Focused Fire Prevention
We are aggressively battling the Tennessee fire mortality rate by bringing the best minds together from the fire service, industry, and strategic partnership organizations to assist us in the targeting, education, and installation of life saving devices for vulnerable populations in Tennessee.

• Fire Mortality Study: Identifies and forecasts unintentional fire deaths using census Tennessee tracts. 
  2002-2010 Original Fire Mortality Study [pdf]
  2010-2013 Updated Fire Mortality Study [pdf]
• Fire Loss Symposium: Annually, leaders from the fire service come together to discuss Tennessee's fire loss problem. The goal of this symposium is to discuss recent trends and collaborate on possible solutions. 
  
• Get Alarmed, TN!: Provides smoke alarms to fire departments that protect high risk populations.  More information
• Our Success so Far:
  • The "Get Alarmed, TN" smoke alarm program has documented hundreds of lives saved. In 2022 it set a record number of lives saved with 123 documented saves! Click here for more info. 
  • Slow and gradual reduction of residential structure fires between 2013 and 2022.