• 1.688 million fire incidents were attended to by public fire departments in 2002, a slight decrease of nearly 3 percent from 2001.

• 519,000 fires occurred in structures, a decrease of less than 1 percent.

• 839,000 fires occurred in outside properties, a small drop nearly 3 percent.

• Every 19 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the nation.

• A fire occurs in a structure at the rate of one every 61 seconds,

• Fires occur in vehicles at the rate of 1 every 96 seconds, there's a fire in an outside property every 38 seconds.

Source: 2002 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)