How much is the fire “cost” in the modern world?

Abstract

The article provides information on the “cost” of fires (losses from fires and the cost of fighting fires) in different ­countries of the world at the beginning of the XXI century. The presented assessment of the “cost” of fires (direct losses from fires, indirect losses, fire services expenditures, the cost of fire protection systems of buildings and the cost of fire insurance administration) was obtained based on an analysis of data from the World Fire Statistics Center (WFSC) for the period 1981–2011. It is shown that on average, direct losses from fires for all countries is estimated at 0.21 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), indirect losses — 0.04 % (five times less than direct). The fire services expenditures is 0.16 % of GDP, fire protection of buildings — 0.28 % and cost of insurance administration — 0.11 %. In general, for 20 developed countries fire losses account for 0.25 % of GDP, the cost of fight­ing them is 0.57 % of GDP, i. e. costs are more than three times the losses. On average, the “cost” of fires in these 20 countries is 0.8 % of GDP. If we add to this the social losses associated with the fire deaths and fire injuries, the costs of research, training for the fire department, etc., then the “cost” of fires will be about 1–2 % of GDP. The presented estimate of the “cost” of fires in the United States based on reports from the National Fire Protec­tion Association (NFPA) of the United States. The data on the “costs” of fires of the WFSC and NFPA are compared. Quite reliable estimates of the “costs” of fires in the modern world have been obtained.