Car Fire Statistics: How Many, What Causes Them and Which Cars

About 196,000 highway vehicles catch fire in the US each year, roughly one of every seven fires that fire departments attend, and those fires kill about 580 people a year. This page brings together the national fire statistics from the NFPA with what NHTSA’s own files show: the fires owners report in safety complaints, the models with the most fire reports, the recalls issued for fire risk, and how electric vehicles compare.

How many car fires are there each year?

The best national estimate comes from the NFPA, which projects fire department reports to national totals. Its latest vehicle fire report, published November 2024, covers 2018–2022:

Source: NFPA, Vehicle Fires (Tucker McGree, November 2024), national estimates from fire department reports.

Vehicle fires made up 16% of all fires reported in the US over those years. The NFPA puts it starkly:

“From 2018–2022, only fires in one- and two-family homes caused more estimated civilian deaths than vehicle fires.”National Fire Protection Association, Vehicle Fires, 2024

The long-term trend is down. NFPA reports highway vehicle fires in 2022 were 69% below 2005, and fires per billion miles driven have fallen over the same period. Deaths have moved the other way: they have risen most years since 2016, with about 650 in 2022. Fires peak in summer, especially July, and between 3 and 7 p.m., while fire deaths peak late at night.

What causes car fires

NFPA’s analysis of fire department reports points to a few clear patterns:

• Mechanical or electrical failure is the leading factor in highway vehicle fires, including 44% of large truck fires and 38% of bus fires.
• Where they start: most fires begin in the engine area, running gear or wheel area. Fires that start near the fuel tank or fuel line, or in the passenger area, cause a disproportionate share of deaths.
• What burns first: the two most common items first ignited are electrical wire or cable insulation and flammable liquid or gas in or from the engine. Fires that start with a flammable liquid or gas account for about half the deaths.
• Crashes: for passenger cars, an “operational deficiency” such as a collision or overturn was a factor in only 7% of fires but 50% of fire deaths.
• Age: about three-quarters of the 2022 highway vehicle fires caused by mechanical or electrical failures involved vehicles from the 2011 model year or earlier.

Recall campaigns tell the same story from the manufacturing side: the components most often named in fire-risk recalls are electrical systems, equipment, fuel systems and engines, as the table below shows.

Fires in owner complaints to NHTSA

Every owner complaint to NHTSA records whether a fire was involved. Across the complaint file:

Complaints for recent model years are still coming in. Source: NHTSA owner complaints file, retrieved Oct 6, 2026; computed by PlainVIN.

The falling share fits the NFPA trend: newer vehicles are less likely to catch fire, and much of the fire risk sits in older cars. Recent model years will still gain complaints, but their fire share has been low from the start. Our guide to filing a complaint with NHTSA explains how to report a fire or a near miss, and our analysis of the most common car problems covers what else owners report.

Which cars catch fire the most?

No public national dataset gives a fire rate per vehicle for each model. What NHTSA’s complaint file does show is which models have drawn the most owner reports of fire:

Counts of owner complaints to NHTSA that report a fire, for models with at least 500 complaints. These are reports, not verified fires or rates: models that sold in larger numbers draw more complaints. Source: NHTSA owner complaints file, retrieved Oct 6, 2026; computed by PlainVIN.

Read this as a list of where owners have reported fires, not a ranking of the most dangerous cars: popular models like the F-150 draw more complaints of every kind. The share column helps. A model where fires make up a high share of its complaints stands out even if its total is modest.

The fire reports often line up with recalls filed later:

• Ford F-150, around 2000: the 1997, 2000 and 2001 F-150 drew more fire complaints than any other model years in the file, with the 2000 Expedition close behind. Ford later recalled millions of vehicles because the cruise-control deactivation switch could overheat and catch fire, including campaigns 05V017 and 05V388 in 2005. See the Ford F-150 by year.
• Pontiac Grand Prix, about 1997–2001: fires are about 15% of its complaints. GM issued underhood and engine-compartment fire recalls in 2008 and 2009, and an oil-on-exhaust-manifold fire recall in 2015.
• Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata, early 2010s: later covered by fuel-pipe and anti-lock brake control unit (HECU) recalls that warned of fire. The largest, campaign 23V652 in 2023, covered about 1.7 million Kia vehicles. See our Park Outside recall list for the Hyundai and Kia ABS module fires.

Fire-risk recalls

We counted every vehicle recall whose NHTSA title, summary or consequence names a fire risk:

Grouped by the first component NHTSA lists. Source: NHTSA recalls file, retrieved Oct 6, 2026; computed by PlainVIN.

“Repaired” weights each campaign’s reported completion rate by its vehicle count; “not yet repaired” is the matching estimate. A vehicle in several campaigns is counted in each. Source: NHTSA recalls file and US DOT completion data, retrieved Oct 6, 2026; computed by PlainVIN.

Some of the largest repair gaps are in fire recalls, because many cover older cars. The biggest fire-risk recalls filed this year, in NHTSA’s wording:

Vehicle descriptions are NHTSA’s own summary wording; “repaired” is the share the manufacturer reports as fixed, and new campaigns start near zero. Source: NHTSA recalls file and US DOT completion data, retrieved Oct 6, 2026.

The most serious fire recalls tell owners to park outside until the repair is done; our Park Outside list covers every one. For year-by-year totals across all recalls, see our car recall statistics.

Do electric cars catch fire more than gas cars?

The evidence points the other way, though good data is thin. In NHTSA’s complaint file, a smaller share of complaints about electric models report a fire than complaints about gas and hybrid vehicles of the same years:

Share of each group’s owner complaints that report a fire; it is not a fire rate per vehicle. SUVs, pickups and vans exclude electric models. Source: NHTSA owner complaints file, retrieved Oct 6, 2026; computed by PlainVIN.

That is a share of complaints, not a fire rate per vehicle, so it can’t say how likely any car is to burn. A widely repeated estimate, about 1,530 fires per 100,000 gasoline cars sold against 25 per 100,000 battery-electric vehicles, comes from a study citing National Transportation Safety Board and Bureau of Transportation Statistics data, as IEEE Spectrum reported. It compares fires with vehicles sold rather than vehicles on the road, so treat it as a rough comparison.

Where EVs differ is in how damaged batteries are handled: NHTSA tells owners of flooded electric or hybrid vehicles to keep them at least 50 feet from buildings, other vehicles and anything that can burn (see our flood-damaged car guide). Battery recalls are a small but serious part of EV recalls; our EV recall analysis lists them.

What to do if your car catches fire

The U.S. Fire Administration’s advice is short and worth memorizing:

1. Pull over as quickly as it is safe to do so, and turn off the engine.
2. Get everyone out and never go back into a burning vehicle. Don’t try to fight the fire yourself.
3. Don’t open the hood or trunk if you think the fire is under it; the extra air can make it grow.
4. Move at least 100 feet away and well away from traffic.
5. Call 911.

Source: U.S. Fire Administration, Vehicle Fire Safety. This guide is general safety information, not professional advice.

How to lower your car’s fire risk

• Check for open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, and act on any fire-risk recall at once; the repair is free. Our guide shows where to find the VIN.
• Get regular service. Leaks of oil, fuel or coolant and worn wiring are common starting points.
• Respond to warning signs at once: NFPA’s advice is to act immediately if you see smoke or flames or smell burning rubber or plastic. Have fluid leaks under the car checked promptly.
• Carry fuel and propane safely, sealed and upright, away from passengers, as USFA advises.
• Buying used? Check the VIN for open recalls and owner complaints for that model year, and follow our used car inspection checklist.

National fire figures are NFPA estimates for 2018–2022. Complaint and recall figures are PlainVIN’s analysis of NHTSA’s files and update when we refresh the data; complaint counts are owner reports, not verified fires or rates.