90% of fires are caused by humans through activities like arson, campfires, discarded cigarettes and use of equipment.
Nearly 85 percent of wildfires are caused by humans such as through discarded cigarettes and unattended campfires.
Natural causes of fires including wildfires are lightning, which account for 10 to 15 percent of wildfires.
Unattended cooking is the number one cause of residential fires.
Campfires and debris burning getting out of control, malfunctions or sparks from power lines, vehicles and machinery and even fireworks are common causes of fires.
Arson is also common cause of fires, which is intentionally set fires.
Careless smoking and careless disposal of cigarettes also causes some house fires.
The #1 cause of house fires is unattended coking on stovetops.
Unattended cooking on stovetops is the #1 cause of house fires, which often involves grease fires or flammable items that are left too close to the heat source like the flame of the stove.
Heating equipment, electrical issues and smoking are also other leading causes of house fires.
Kitchen fires account for around half of all residential house fires and injuries, which highlights the importance of staying in the kitchen when cooking.
When cooking food, especially on the stovetop, you should always stay in the kitchen and watch the food while it cooks to prevent grease fires and other fires and keep flammables, including cooking oils and washcloths, towels, rags, oven mitts etc away from the stove and flame.
Cooking accounts for around half of all fires in the home, with most of these house fires starting on the stovetop from unattended pots, pans or grease.
Heating equipment like space heaters, wood stoves and other heaters, are a major cause of house fires, especially during winter.
Faulty cords on the heaters, plugging space heaters into extension cords or overloading outlets and having combustibles too close to the heaters are major causes of house fires.
Always ensure the space heater is in good working condition, has a good cord and never overload outlets and never plug a space heater into extension cords or power strips.
Electric space heaters should always be plugged directly into an outlet.
Faulty wiring, overloaded circuits, and old appliances are common ignition sources for house fires.
And open flames like candles can easily ignite items surrounding them.