“Fire is still a threat, especially to older buildings. But beneath the sound of those sirens is a story of underappreciated progress toward ever greater safety. Compared with 1980, the per-capita civilian fire death rate [in the United States] has fallen by roughly two-thirds — from about 28.6 deaths per million people to around 11 per million in 2023. Total reported fires are also down by half over that time period, and injuries have fallen by more than half.”

From Vox.