Fire departments in the United States respond to an average of 2million fire calls each year. This fire problem, on a per capita basis, is one of the worst in the industrial world. Thousands of Americans die each year, tens of thousands of people are injured, and property losses reach billions of dollars. There are huge indirect costs of fire as well—temporary lodging, lost business, medical expenses, psychological damage, pets killed, and others. To put this in context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters combined in the United States average just a fraction of the casualties from fires. The public, the media, and local governments are generally unaware of the magnitude and seriousness of the fire problem to individuals and their families, to communities, and to the nation.