The truly disadvantaged and the structural covariates of fire death rates

The present study investigates the social and demographic correlates of fire death rates for large metropolitan counties (N = 199). Data were derived from the 1990 census and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Multiple regression analyses revealed that age of housing, prevalence of mobile homes, and the proportion of the population renting had significant independent effects on fire death rates. Furthermore, the results indicated a significant interaction between the proportion of the population that is African American and median family income. The combination of low income and a high proportion of African Americans was related to fire death rates in a multiplicative rather than additive way. That is, the combination of low income and high proportion of African Americans appears to be associated with extremely high fire death rates, much more so than would be predicted by simply summing the two risk factors together. The results are discussed in relation to cumulative disadvantage theory. It is argued that the relationship between race and fire death is the product of both racial disparities in income and the geographic concentration of multiple disadvantages. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.