The NFPA says that the Philadelphia rowhome fire that claimed the lives of 12 people, including eight children, tied for the sixth deadliest fire since 1980.
January 07, 2022 – Source – Firehouse.com
Yesterday’s deadly rowhome fire in Philadelphia is among the top 10 deadliest home fires in the U.S. in four decades.
The loss of 12 people, including eight children, tied for the sixth deadliest fire since 1980, according to data collected by the NFPA.
Officials said the rowhome, owned by the city’s Public Housing Authority, had four smoke detectors but none were working in their investigation after the fire.
According to the most recent NFPA Smoke Alarms in the US Home Fires report, almost three out of five home fire deaths occurred in properties with no smoke alarms or smoke alarms that failed to operate.
The report showed that 25 percent of the smoke alarm failures were due to dead batteries, with disconnected or non-working power sources accounting for the bulk of the non-working detectors.
Below is a breakdown of the top nine deadliest home fires in the U.S. since 1980, according to NFPA data.
| # of Deaths | Date | Incident Type | Location |
| 26, including 1 firefighter | Oct. 1, 1991 | Oakland Fire Storm | Oakland, CA |
| 24 | Sept. 4, 1982 | Dorothy Mae apartment building fire | Los Angeles |
| 16 | Dec. 24, 1989 | John Sevier Senior Center fire | Johnson City, TN |
| 14 | July 5, 1982 | Apartment building fire | Waterbury, CT |
| 13 | Dec. 28, 2017 | Apartment building fire | Bronx, NY |
| 12 | May 3, 1993 | Apartment building fire | Los Angeles |
| 12 | Sept. 30, 1987 | House fire | Milwaukee |
| 12 | Dec. 18, 1980 | Avalon apartment building fire | Salt Lake City |
| 12 | Jan. 5, 2022 | Rowhome fire | Philadelphia |