Demographic characteristics, fire experiences, and distress of residential fire survivors

The United States has one of the highest per capita fire death rates in the world. Death rates alone, however, fail to reflect the breadth of loss experienced by residential fire survivors. Despite the frequency of home fires and the potential for loss, little is known about this vulnerable population. Interviews were conducted with 440 fire survivors 14 weeks after fires. Demographic characteristics of residential fire survivors, survivors' fire experiences, psychological distress after fires and the interrelationships among these variables were examined. This sample of urban fire survivors largely comprised poor, middle-aged African American women. Psychological distress was measured by the General Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the results showed that survivors were highly distressed, even in the absence of fire-related death or physical injury.