The movies and television shows often make it appear that vehicle fires happen just about every time that cars crash, with over-the-top special effects. While these scenes are often exaggerated for entertainment purposes, a look at the statistics shows that these fires aren’t quite as uncommon as most people assume.

When vehicle fires do happen, they can have catastrophic consequences for those in and even around the flaming vehicle. Let’s look more closely at the subject.

The numbers from the NFPA

To understand the real toll that these fires take, let’s look at the numbers from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). A 2020 report using 2018 statistics for the U.S. says that there were:

• 212,500 vehicle fires
• 1,500 injuries, many of which were serious
• 560 fatalities
• $1.9 billion in property damage

On average, this means that more than one person passed away from a vehicle fire every day that year, while more than four were injured every day.

The NFPA points out that, while residential fires involving single-family homes and shared dwellings did have a greater fatality toll, car fires caused more deaths than apartment fires and 4.5 times as many fatalities as nonresidential fires.

It’s also worth noting that people in accidents could be burned by steam, extremely hot engine fluids, contact with hot metal surfaces, and much more. The risk of a significant burn injury in a crash is very real.

Have you been injured?

Burn injuries can change your life forever. If you or a loved one been seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence, you need to know how to seek compensation to cover medical treatment and other expenses and damages.