In their press release the US Fire Administration says:
“The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a special report, part of its Topical Fire Report Series, examining the causes and characteristics of fires in hotels and motels. An estimated average of 3,900 fires occur each year in hotels and motels, which are a subset of residential buildings. Annually, these fires are also responsible for 15 deaths, 150 civilian injuries, and $76 million in property loss. The report, Hotel and Motel Fires (PDF, 932 Kb), was developed by the National Fire Data Center, part of FEMA’s U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The report is based on 2005 to 2007 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).”
One of the most interesting things to note is the difference between fires (what we call in Australia domestic) residential buildings that are dwellings and the hotel/motel statistics. They comprise only approximately 1 percent of (what the USFA categorises as) residential building fires. The risk in residential fires remains primarily with dwellings. This is consistent with Australian Fire Statistics.