That’s not a headline you’re likely to read in the local papers, yet it’s quite a frequent occurrence when it comes to manufactured housing. Two headlines came across our computer screens today, one from The Columbian in Vancouver Flames damage manufactured home in central Vancouver. The article reads “Vancouver firefighters were dispatched to a fire at the double-wide home at 4300 N.E. 59th Ave.” and later “The damage to the manufactured home was estimated at $50,000, and most of it was confined to the roof.” The second article is from the The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina that comes with the headline Fire destroys manufactured home. In this case, arson is suspected in the cause of damage to the home identified here as a mobile home. The mention of the type of home in the headline may make it seem the homes are more suceptible to fire damage. In fact, however according to a report on manufactured home fire safety published in July 2011 by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), manufactured homes have a lower incidence of fire per 1,000 homes than other occupied one or two-family dwellings. Similarly, manufactured homes have “a lower rate of civilian fire injuries per 100,000 occupied housing units than other one or two-family homes” and post-HUD standard manufactured homes are more likely than other homes to have fires confined to the room of origin. Read More
