Fire has a significant impact on all Australian communities, with wide ranging consequences to people, places and the environment. Economic loss is not just a measurement of damage, that has occurred, or business interruption and supply and demand problems, but also the costs of providing the various services such as fire fighting, fire protection and fire safety.

The cost of fire will affect every household (people and property), commercial enterprise (private businesses or industries) and the public (government organisations, including Public Safety Agencies) at some point via:

• Anticipatory costs — these are predominantly protection and prevention measures undertaken to prevent or mitigate the potential damage caused by fire;
• Responsive costs — these are the costs of extinguishing and clearing up after fire (society bears the majority of these costs); and
• Consequential costs — these are costs incurred directly as a result of fire. More specifically, these costs are the result of the exposure of property, individuals or the environment to fire and its products

Other costs also include:

• Human costs — Each year people are injured and killed by fires in Australia, causing both personal loss and economic loss
• Arson — Arson costs the community an enormous amount each year both financially and socially

Research in this area of the site examines the cost of fire to the community from an economic perspective.