Adjusted for inflation, the total cost represents a 34 percent increase over 1980, while its proportion of USA gross domestic product has declined by about one-third.
Key findings from the report include that although the core total cost of fire has increased by 40 percent from 1980 to 2011 to a total of $108.4 billion, the economic loss due to fire decreased by 31 percent, totalling $14.9 billion, with all figures adjusted for inflation. Fires in 2011 caused $13.3 billion in direct property damage (reported or unreported), which represented 89 percent of economic loss that year. The other 11 percent was indirect loss, such as temporary housing and business interruption. New building construction for fire protection was estimated to cost $31 billion in 2011.
