[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18599-18600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9256]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request--Residential Fire Survey

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requests 
comments on a proposed survey to evaluate (1) the causes of residential 
fires and (2) the role of smoke alarms, sprinklers, and fire 
extinguishers in those fires. The study will consist of a random digit 
dialing (RDD) telephone survey to identify households that had a fire 
within the previous three months. The survey will include both fires 
reported to the fire service and those not reported. Data collection 
will take place over a 12-month period and will identify consumer 
products involved in fire causes. The information will help CPSC and 
its federal partners, the U.S. Fire Administration and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, to focus efforts to reduce residential 
fire losses. CPSC will consider all comments received in response to 
this notice before requesting approval for this telephone survey from 
the Office of Management and Budget.

DATES: Written comments must be received by the Office of the Secretary 
not later than June 16, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be captioned ``Residential Fire 
Survey'' and mailed to the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207, or delivered to the attention 
of that office, room 419, North Tower, 4330 East-West Highway, 
Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. Written comments may also be sent to the 
Office of the Secretary by facsimile at (301) 504-0127 or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the proposed 
collection of information, or to obtain a copy of the questions to be 
used for this collection of information, call or write Linda E. Smith, 
Division of Hazard Analysis, Directorate for Epidemiology, U.S. 
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, 
MD 20814 telephone (301) 504-7310, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    Reduction of fire deaths is one of CPSC's strategic goals. An 
estimated 396,500 residential fires were attended by the fire service 
in 2001 and resulted in 3,140 deaths, 15,575 injuries, and $5.6 billion 
in property loss. Although residential fire losses have decreased 
greatly over the past 15 years, the U.S. continues to have one of the 
highest fire death rates per capita in the world.
    One of the reasons for the observed reduction in fire deaths is 
thought to be the increased prevalence of smoke alarms, which are 
intended to give early warning of a fire and allow more time for the 
occupants to escape unharmed. Since 1984 when CPSC last conducted a 
survey of residential fires, the prevalence of smoke alarms in U.S. 
households has greatly increased. Prevalence, however, does not mean 
that the alarms will be operational. In 1992, a CPSC study of smoke 
alarms installed in residences showed that among households that had 
smoke alarms, 20 percent of the households had no alarms that worked. 
Changes continue to be made to smoke alarm technology and installation 
requirements with the intent of increasing the number of households 
with an adequate number of working alarms.
    In 1984, it was estimated that fires that were not attended by the 
fire service accounted for 97 percent of all U.S. residential fires. 
CPSC and its fire partners wish to determine the current magnitude of 
the overall fire problem, including the prevalence of fires both 
attended and unattended by the fire service. In addition, CPSC wishes 
to learn if there has been a further reduction in the percentage of 
fires that are serious enough to warrant the attendance of the fire 
service, and the extent to which the involvement of smoke alarms has 
contributed to the reduced number of such fires.
    The reduction of fire deaths, the most severe result of residential 
fires, is part of a collaborative effort by CPSC, the U.S. Fire 
Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 
resulting data are expected to provide statistically-based support and 
focus for integrated national programs, including the benefits derived 
by the use of smoke alarms, sprinklers, and fire extinguishers. The 
resulting data also will provide current estimates of all residential 
fires that involve specific types of consumer products, providing more 
comprehensive fire data upon which to target prevention activities.

[[Page 18600]]

B. Description of the Collection of Information

    This collection of information will consist of a random digit 
dialing (RDD) telephone survey. Use of RDD will result in a probability 
sample of all U.S. households, ensuring that the estimates will be 
representative of the U.S. population. Selected high-risk subsets of 
the population will be over-sampled to ensure that the fire problem in 
those groups can be adequately characterized. These include rural 
households, and low socioeconomic households. Data collection will take 
place over a 12-month period to account for variation in the number and 
causes of fire that occur over the course of a year.
    The intention of the survey is to contact both households that have 
experienced a fire during the previous 3 months and households that 
have not experienced a fire. Demographic data on fire and non-fire 
households will be collected so that fire risk can be calculated for 
different demographic groups.
    Households that have had fires will be asked about the cause of the 
fire, the products involved in starting the fire, and the items that 
burned. Information about the severity of the fire will be collected, 
including deaths, non-fatal injuries, medical treatment, property 
damage, and whether the fire was attended by the fire service. 
Information will be obtained on the number, characteristics, and 
performance of smoke alarms. CPSC is particularly interested in 
obtaining information on the role of the smoke alarm in warning the 
occupants that there was a fire. Information also will be obtained on 
the presence and performance of fire sprinklers and fire extinguishers.
    A contractor will conduct a cognitive pre-test of the telephone 
questionnaire using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) 
program. Revisions to the CATI programming will be made based on the 
pretest. Data collection for the survey will be conducted over a one-
year period. The contractor will then review and edit the data and 
construct a database for CPSC analysis.

C. Burden on Respondents

    Households will be screened using RDD methodology to identify 1,500 
households who have had a fire within the previous three months. The 
estimated incidence of fire households is approximately 2.5%. Screening 
to identify household qualification is expected to take an average of 
approximately 2 minutes. It is estimated that the study will require 
screening of 86,680 households to yield 1,500 qualified, cooperative 
respondents.
    The interview with fire households is estimated to take an average 
of 22 minutes to administer over the telephone. In addition, a sub-
sample of 2,000 non-fire households will be interviewed using a 6-
minute demographic survey.
    Given these estimates, the burden on respondents is calculated to 
be:

[sbull] 86,680 screening interviews @ 2 minutes = 173,360 minutes;
[sbull] 1,500 interviews with fire households @ 22 minutes = 33,000 
minutes; and
[sbull] 2,000 interviews with non-fire households @ 6 minutes = 12,000 
minutes,

for a total of 218,360 minutes, or 3,639.3 interviewing hours of burden 
for respondents. The staff estimates that the annualized cost to 
respondents for the hour burden for the collection of information is 
$85,305, based on $23.44 per hour (September 2002 Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, Department of Labor cost for employee compensation, private 
industry, state and local government.)

D. Requests for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed survey to determine residential fire cause 
and smoke alarm performance. The Commission specifically seeks 
information relevant to the following topics:

[sbull] Whether the survey described above is necessary for the proper 
performance of the Commission's functions, including whether the 
information would have practical utility;
[sbull] Whether the estimated burden of the proposed collection of 
information is accurate;
[sbull] Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected could be enhanced; and
[sbull] Whether the burden imposed by the collection of information 
could be minimized by use of automated, electronic or other 
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information 
technology.

    Dated: April 9, 2003.
Todd Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 03-9256 Filed 4-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P