Product Code Database
A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various types of residential, commercial or industrial , such as . Residential buildings range from single-family detached homes and to and , or various commercial buildings ranging from to . This is in contrast to "room and contents" fires, , , or other outdoor fires.
Structure fires typically have a similar response from the fire department that include fire apparatus, ladder trucks, , chief officers, and an EMS unit, each of which will have specific initial assignments. The actual response and assignments will vary between fire departments.
It is not unusual for some fire departments to have a predetermined mobilization plan for when a fire incident is reported in certain structures in their area. This plan may include mobilizing the nearest aerial firefighting vehicle to a tower block, or a foam-carrying vehicle to structures known to contain certain Dangerous goods.
| Type I: Fire Resistive | Typically used in Tower block. The material comprising the structure is either inherently able to withstand significant exposure to fire (concrete), or in which a fire resistive covering is applied to steel structural members. |
| Type II: Non-combustible | Typically used in strip shopping center malls. Roofs are constructed out of steel rafters. |
| Type III: Ordinary construction | Brickwork walls, wood frame floors. City are where this type of construction is most often found. |
| Type IV: Heavy timber | Often used in churches or other community-based buildings. |
| Type V: Timber framing | Typically used in recent construction of single-family dwellings, townhouses, garden apartments with four floors or less. |
| + Residential fire sources of ignition, 6 jurisdictions, 2014 (Note: only ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, and the CAF reported this data in 2014). |
| 33% |
| 24% |
| 14% |
| 11% |
| 7% |
| 7% |
| 4% |
| 1% |
A 2023 update from Statistics Canada confirmed that cooking equipment and smoker's material continued to be the top causes of residential fires, at 32% and 25% of total incidents respectively.
| + Residential building fire causes, 2017-2019 (Note: Fires with a cause determined only.) |
| 50.9% |
| 9.3% |
| 7.4% |
| 6.7% |
| 4.3% |
| 4.3% |
| 3.4% |
| 3.0% |
| 2.3% |
| 2.0% |
| 1.8% |
| 1.7% |
| 1.3% |
| 1.3% |
| 0.4% |
|
|
