When we look at businesses here in America, usually, some kind of retail is what we think of. Goods, products, services - that's the stuff of the American Dream. As part of a capitalist society, we can use our creativity to come up with a million-dollar idea, invent a product or service that the public needs, or take a stab at whatever kind of business venture we want. When people do this, they usually envision profits and success - as they should; those things can motivate and drive us. Often, setbacks aren't part of that dreamy vision, but it's something a business owner needs to be prepared for. Every business has its share of crises to deal with, and one of them, for some, could be a fire. Today we'll look at retail fires and their impact on businesses.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a valuable resource when it comes to information relating to fires. They've gathered some statistics involved in retail fires that occurred from 2009 - 2013. For clarity, retail fires also include fires that occurred at barber and beauty shops, laundry services, auto repair shops, service stations, pet stores, dry cleaners, etc., in addition to brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Local fire departments were alerted to and responded to approximately 13, 570 fires annually at retail properties. Each year, 12 people perished in those fires on average, and 289 were injured. The property damage, as a result, was about $604 million each year.
When assessing what caused these fires, 3 (really 4) were the main catalysts: cooking equipment (21%), lighting and electrical distribution equipment (15%) and tying for 3rd place were (sadly) arson and heating equipment, both at 11%.
Lighting and electrical fires did the most damage (27%), followed by arson, causing 20% of the damage.
Thankfully, the numbers surrounding deaths from these fires are relatively low, but most deaths were because of cooking fires (33%) with heating fires next (28%). However, 40% of deaths were related to fires that occurred because heat sources were too close to flammable items, even though this was a factor in only 9% of the fires.
When these fires occurred is another interestest piece of data. Typically, fires broke out during the day, but the ones that did the most damage were the ones that happened at night, likely when the business was closed. Fires that occurred during the day had $33,900 in damage contrasted with fires that occurred at night, from 9 pm - 5 am, which had $73,800 in damages. This information should be a reminder that automatic fire department notification and alarms, as well as automatic sprinkler systems, are incredibly important at business locations.
The type of retail location that had the most fires is another interesting statistic. Grocery or convenience stores came in highest, 28 % of the fires - or 3,740. Textile and apparel shops had the lowest incidents of fire - 260 per year, or 2%.
However, in all this, the good news is that retail fires are on the decrease. Retail fires have gone down by 63% in the past 35 years - with approximately 37,500 fires in 1980 contrasted with 14,000 in 2012. And in 72% of the fires during the study period, the fire was contained to the room it originated in.
All business owners have a lot to lose in a fire but especially those in retail, where those physical goods are directly connected to profit. This is another reason why fire safety education and practices are so important.
The law requires all places where the public gathers to undergo flameproofing treatments - treating any decorative combustible material so that it becomes non-flammable in the event of a fire. This is a significant measure to see that businesses suffer as few losses as possible when a fire occurs.
Certified Flameproofing can help if you have flameproofing needs or other questions and concerns about fire safety at your retail or business location. We are industry leaders in New York City and beyond for over 5 decades, and we'd be happy to add you to our list of satisfied customers both here in New York City and the Greater NY Metro area. We also can give you a free, no-obligation estimate: 800-590-5530.