More Australians die in house fires than every other natural disaster combined, with smoking the biggest culprit.
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On average one person dies each week in a house fire according to the study presented at an emergency management conference in Melbourne on Thursday.
Smoking caused more than 25 per cent of the 900 house fire fatalities nationwide in the past 14 years.
A third of cases involved people smoking in bed, making it the most common location of fatal house fires along with living rooms.
"People die in their beds due to smoking, using candles, using heating that catches fire to bedclothes and all those things are preventable," Metropolitan Fire Brigade acting chief executive officer Greg Leach told AAP.
"There's death and unnecessary trauma happening in the community as a result of very preventable house fires."
Researchers found a link between fires caused by smoking and disadvantage, with half occurring in the top 25 per cent of disadvantaged parts of Australia.
Those over the age of 65 are at the greatest risk of dying in a house fire and researchers are concerned this will likely increase as the population ages and people live in their own home for longer.
"We need to work with local government in particular, as they have care workers who are in and out of elderly people's homes on a regular basis," Mr Leach said.
"If we can help to educate other partner agencies we can get these important fire safety message out to vulnerable people in the community."
More than 60 per cent of victims had a disability and 44 per cent lived alone. About one in 10 victims were children aged under four.
The study was commissioned by Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Brigade and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, in a bid to identify common risk factors and prevent future tragedies.
The two groups are now working to develop a national residential fire strategy with an overall aim of reducing preventable fire deaths to zero.
"Even one person dying in a house fire is one too many," Mr Leach said.
PEOPLE MOST AT RISK OF DYING IN A HOUSE FIRE:
*Aged 65 and over - 36.4pct of all fatalities
*Young children aged 0-4 - 7.8pct
*Disabled - 61.8pct
*Smokers - 65.4pct
*Males - 64.3pct
*Live alone - 44.5pct
*On medication 34.4pct
*Had consumed alcohol 32.7pct
The study can be found at bnhcrc.com.au/research/preventableresidentialfirefatalities
Australian Associated Press
