Brazil Home Fire Trends: Gas, Wiring and Crowded Homes

A firefighter among burned-out homes after a fire in the Paraisópolis favela, São Paulo
A fire destroyed about 30 homes in the Paraisópolis favela, São Paulo, in March 2017, the community’s second fire in under ten days. Photo: Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
No national countUpdated 20 October 2026

Trend summary

  • Brazil has no official national count of house fires. Fire services attended more than 730,000 fires in 2017–2019, and more than 2,700 people died, about 900 a year.
  • Children are a small but steady share. 661 children aged 0–14 died from smoke, fire and flames in 2016–2024. The rate dipped from 0.184 to 0.152 per 100,000.
  • Where states publish data, homes dominate. In Belo Horizonte, 62% of building fires and almost 90% of fires with victims were in homes.
  • The worst events hit crowded, informal housing: favela shacks, occupied tower blocks and shelters. Cooking-gas (LPG) leaks caused deadly building collapses in Aracaju (2023) and Maceió (2024).
~900fire deaths a year, 2017–2019 (fire services)
661child deaths from smoke and fire, 2016–2024
262/daySUS burn-care visits, 2022
1,184home fires attended in Ceará, 2022

What the numbers show

There is no single national figure for house fires. A 2025 study of fires in Belo Horizonte cites earlier work showing that Brazil’s fire services attended more than 730,000 fires in 2017–2019, with more than 2,700 deaths. That is about 900 deaths a year (Santos and Corrêa, 2025). Federal public-security (Senasp) data cited in Congress counted 262,087 fires in 2020, of which 83,006 were urban fires, buildings included (Agência Câmara). Hospital data give a narrower view. From 2007 to 2016, 20,907 burn patients died in hospital, and 3,510 of them had been exposed to smoke, fire and flames (ICD-10 X00–X09). This group had over twice the risk of death of other burn patients (Meschial et al., 2020). The SUS recorded 95,900 burn-care visits in 2022, or 262 a day, and 11,900 burn admissions (SIA/SIH data). Health bodies say about 70% of burns happen at home (FHEMIG).

Among children aged 0–14, 661 deaths from smoke, fire and flames were recorded in 2016–2024. Almost half were aged 1–4. The rate was 0.184 per 100,000 children in 2016, 0.144 in 2022 and 0.152 in 2024, with no tested trend (Rodriguez et al., 2026). State fire services show homes dominate building fires. Ceará’s brigade attended 1,020 home fires in 2021 and 1,184 in 2022 (O Povo / CBMCE). It counted 968 from January to September 2023, 7% more than a year earlier (O Povo). In Belo Horizonte in 2021–2022, 852 of 1,371 building fires (62%) were in homes. So were 119 of 133 fires with victims (Santos and Corrêa, 2025). In a wider Minas Gerais sample of 3,391 building fires, 64% were residential, and 45% of fires started in a bedroom (Agência Minas). The private Instituto Sprinkler Brasil tracks news reports of structural fires, but it leaves homes out, so its counts do not cover house fires.

What is driving it

Three hazards recur. The first is cooking gas. Ceará’s brigade attends about 2,000 gas incidents a year (2,092 in 2019 and 2,043 in 2023) (CBMCE). Gas leaks brought down homes in Aracaju on 31 December 2023, killing five people (Sergipe Civil Defence), and in Maceió in November 2024, killing three (CBMAL). The second is electrical faults and overloaded, informal connections. A 2012 São Paulo city council inquiry named climate and electrical problems as the main causes of favela fires (São Paulo City Council). The third is crowding in precarious homes, where wooden shacks burn fast and escape routes are few. The São Paulo fire brigade recorded fires affecting 130 favelas in 2008 and 79 in 2010 (São Paulo City Council). It recorded 136 favela fires in 2015 and 100 by late July 2016 (Monitor Mercantil / Agência Brasil).

The law protects homes unevenly. The 2017 “Kiss Law” (Lei 13.425) was passed after the 2013 nightclub fire in Santa Maria. It targets places where the public gathers, and its only housing rule is periodic inspection of multi-family residential buildings (Planalto). Single-family homes, favelas and occupied buildings fall largely outside formal fire codes. That gap showed when the occupied Wilton Paes de Almeida tower in São Paulo burned and collapsed on 1 May 2018. About 372 people from 146 families lived there (Congresso em Foco), and seven died (Jovem Pan). It showed again when 11 people died in a Porto Alegre guesthouse used as social housing in April 2024 (MPRS). Prevention relies on state brigade campaigns, such as winter heater and stove warnings and the 6 June National Day against Burns.

Recent cases

  • 16 September 2026: A national study found 661 deaths of children aged 0–14 from smoke, fire and flames in 2016–2024, with the highest rates among 1–4-year-olds (Revista Aracê).
  • 24 June 2026: Rio Grande do Sul’s fire brigade launched its Safe Winter campaign after heat-source incidents rose from 1,196 in 2024 to 1,298 in 2025, a rise of 8.5% (RS Government).
  • 11 May 2026: An explosion followed by fire in a Jaguaré community in west São Paulo killed one person and left 46 homes condemned, according to city councillors (São Paulo City Council).

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Up to five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from federal ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Health, INPE, the Federal Highway Police, CENIPA and the Central Bank, from Agência Brasil, the public news agency, and from the Senate and Chamber news services and state governments; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Headlines are our English translations of the Portuguese originals. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

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View 20 years of major Brazilian home fire press releases (2007–2026)43 more from 2007–2022, up to five a year, newest first

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Many years list fewer than five items, and some have none yet. Older federal releases and the 2007–2013 Agência Brasil archive are hard to reach at their original addresses, and we only list items we could open and check. We are still adding to these lists. Where a page shows no date, the date comes from the release address or the publisher’s own index.

Photo list

A blue 13 kg cooking-gas cylinder (botijão) on a kitchen floor
File photo: a household cooking-gas (LPG) cylinder. Gas leaks are a leading cause of deadly home fires and explosions. Photo: Robsonchito via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Fire engines of the Federal District Military Fire Brigade in Brasília
File photo: fire engines of the Federal District Military Fire Brigade (CBMDF) in Brasília. Fire services in Brazil are run by the states. Photo: Andre Gustavo Stumpf Filho via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Related on ROR Labs

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. Brazil’s national death data come from the Ministry of Health mortality system (SIM/DATASUS) and are usually final about two years later, and some topics, such as fires, have no single national count, so we say which year and source each figure covers. Money is given in reais (R$). Headlines and quotes are our translations from Portuguese. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.