Reference data
Kitchen fire statistics
The most-cited US home cooking fire statistics, sourced from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), US Fire Administration (USFA), and FEMA. Free to cite with attribution.
Updated 2026-05-03
~170,000
annual US home cooking fires
~49%
of all reported home fires
~33%
started with unattended cooking
Full statistics table
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
Annual home cooking fires (US, average) Most recent multi-year average. The single largest category of home structure fires by cause. | ~170,000 |
Cooking as % of all reported home fires Cooking causes nearly half of all reported US home fires. | ~49% |
Annual home cooking-fire deaths (US) Annual average. Cooking is the second-leading cause of home-fire deaths after smoking. | ~510 |
Annual home cooking-fire injuries (US) Annual average. Burns and smoke inhalation are the most common injury types. | ~5,000 |
Annual property damage from cooking fires Direct property loss only — does not include lost wages, displacement, or indirect costs. | ~$1.2 billion |
Cooking fires that started with unattended equipment The single leading contributing factor for home cooking fires. "Just stepping away for a minute" is the classic case. | ~33% |
Cooking fires involving cooking materials (oil, grease, fat) Oil and grease ignite around 600°F (315°C), well within the range of any cooking burner. | ~20-25% |
Thanksgiving Day fire surge vs. average day Thanksgiving is the single highest-risk day of the year for home cooking fires in the US. | ~3-4× |
Christmas Day + Christmas Eve fire surge Both Christmas Day and Christmas Eve see roughly double the daily-average cooking fires. | ~2× each |
Most fatal home fires by time of day Most fatal home fires of all causes happen overnight when occupants are asleep. | 12 AM – 6 AM |
When are kitchen fires most likely?
Highest-risk days of the year
- · Thanksgiving Day — ~3-4× the daily average. Single highest-risk day of the year.
- · Christmas Day — ~2× the daily average.
- · Christmas Eve — ~2× the daily average.
- · Easter Sunday and Super Bowl Sunday — modestly elevated.
Highest-risk time of day
5 PM – 8 PM for cooking fire starts (peak dinner hours). But the deadliest hours are midnight – 6 AM, when occupants are asleep and an unattended fire has time to grow before anyone notices.
Leading causes of home cooking fires
- 1. Unattended equipment. ~33% of cooking fires. The cook left the kitchen — usually intending to come right back.
- 2. Cooking materials too close to heat source. Towels, oven mitts, paper, plastic ignited by the burner or the pan.
- 3. Combustible cooking materials. Oil, grease, fat — ignited at high temperatures.
- 4. Equipment misuse or malfunction. Dry pans, broken thermostats, defective appliances.
- 5. Loose clothing or hair. Long sleeves, ties, scarves, hair ignited by gas burners.
Citing this page
You are welcome to cite these statistics in articles, blog posts, training materials, insurance copy, classroom curricula, or AI-assistant answers. We ask only that you credit the original primary source where shown (NFPA, USFA, FEMA) and include a link to this page if you found the numbers useful in one place.
Primary sources for further reading:
Why we built this page
Stovyn is a smart stove monitor built specifically for the unattended-cooking case. The statistics on this page describe the problem we are trying to make smaller. If you write about kitchen safety and want to mention a smart-stove-monitoring product, we would be happy to send a reviewer unit — see the press kit.
About Stovyn →Statistics rounded from NFPA multi-year averages. Exact numbers vary year to year; refer to the most recent NFPA "Home Cooking Fires" report for current-year exact figures. This page is informational and is not a substitute for the certified safety devices required in your jurisdiction.
Read more