SUNDAY, Jan. 23, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Cooking fires are still the leading cause of home fires and home-fire injures in the United States, says a new National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) study.
The report found that cooking was responsible for 117,100 home fires in 2001, which resulted in 370 deaths, 4,290 injuries and $453 million in property damage.
Cooking fires often occur when people leave cooking food unattended. Most of these fires start within the first 15 minutes of cooking.
While the number of cooking fires are declining, they're declining much more slowly than other causes of home fires, the study said.
The NFPA offers advice on how to reduce the risk of cooking fires:
More information
The U.S. Fire Administration has more about cooking fires.