A Greenville County house fire killed a ten year old boy leaving a family grieving, multiple media outlets were reporting Monday. The Greenville County house fire occurred in the early morning hours on Monday, May 23rd, 2016. The house was located at Beauclaire Drive in Simpsonville in Greenville County, according to local media reports who were quoting the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.

Greenville County Sheriff’s Office as well local fire department are investigating the cause of the fire.

A house fire can start in a number of ways, including cooking, candles, portable heaters, faulty electrical wiring, and smoking. According to the United States Fire Administration, in 2013, 49 percent of the residential fires were caused by cooking; 12.9 percent were caused by heating; and 6.1 percent were caused by electrical malfunction.

Every year in the United States, there are millions of residential fires that cause personal injury, property loss, and death. According to the United States Fire Administration, there were 3240 deaths caused by fire in the United States in 2013.  But there has been an overall decline by 21 percent in the number of fire-related deaths since 2004. In 2013, there were 15,925 instance of personal injury caused by fire in the United States. Personal injury caused by fire can be permanent, painful, and cause permanent impairment, including loss of skin.

For more information on fire statistics in the United States you can follow this link to the United States Fire Administration: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/#tab-2

Even with smoke detectors present in the home, it can be impossible to survive a rapidly spreading fire. Moreover, certain structures may be more prone to fire deaths than other structures.

Also, older adults ages 80-84 are at the highest risk from dying or becoming injured in a fire.

A Greenville County house fire can end in tragedy. A house fire can be caused by a number of different sources, as listed above.