Open AccessA population-based descriptive study of housefire deaths in North Carolina.
Author(s) -
Michael J. Patetta,
Thomas Cole
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.80.9.1116
Subject(s) - medical examiner , demography , medicine , population , mortality rate , cause of death , south carolina , blood alcohol , gerontology , poison control , injury prevention , environmental health , surgery , pathology , disease , public administration , sociology , political science
We report a population-based study of housefire deaths in North Carolina in 1985 using data obtained from fire investigators and the North Carolina medical examiner system. The crude death rate was 3.2 per 100,000 population; age-specific death rates were highest for ages 75-84 years. Death rates for Whites were one-third as high as death rates for other races. Of those decedents tested for alcohol, 56 percent had blood alcohol levels greater than or equal to 22 mmol/L. Most fatal fires were caused by heating units or cigarettes.