I would like a statistical comparison between electric blankets and
other items.  How many fires are started by electric blankets each
year?  How many deaths as a result.  Also I want to compare these
figures to other items like toasters or automobiles.

My guess is people who smoke in bed and do other foolish things with
fire, try to blame the electric blanket. Maybe ten officially reported
fires per year in the USA, more in Britain and Europe where they have
220 volts or a bit more and try to operate blankets designed for 120
volts.
 120 volt toasters and simular 1000 watt+ heaters will almost always
trip circuit breakers if operated on 220+ volts. 200 toaster fires and
1000 electric heater fires in the USA that are reported is my guess.
When damage is minor; most people don't report. Most 21st century
appliences are safer than the very old appliences. I'll guess 5000 car
and vehicle fires are reported in the USA each year, so electric
blankets are quite safe, except a very small group of persons believe
the magnetic field from the banket is harmful to humans.  Neil

In the UK and Europe we don't try to operate blankets designed for 120
volts. We can't buy them here. Locally sold electric blankets are made
for our 220-240V supplies.

The following figures are for the UK. (Government-compiled figures are
notable for being massaged to suit the Givernment's purpose.)

Of the estimated 5,000 house fires caused by faulty electric blankets
in 1996, 816 needed fire brigade attendance.  There were 19
fatalities, nearly 90% of which were people aged 65 or over.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/455045.stm

Each year there are about 1000 fires caused by faulty electric
blankets. Around 20 people are killed and 250 injured in these fires.
http://www.hants.gov.uk/regulatory/advice/elecblan.html

Old or damaged blankets cause more than 5,000 fires a year. Research
has shown that electric blankets of ten years or older are responsible
for 99% of the fires caused by electric blankets. Each year 20 people
are killed and 100 injured in such fires.
http://www.shropshireonline.gov.uk/shropshireccnews.nsf/0/ebd96968aa5fc8f580256f4f003847aa?OpenDocument
(*Note especially the 99% of fires are from blankets over 10 years old*).

There are breakdowns for age and type of accident at
http://www.firesafetytoolbox.org.uk/ncfsc/hottopics/heatingsystems/electricblankets.htm#statistics

There are analyses of causal data for fire safety generally at
http://www.firesafetytoolbox.org.uk/ncfsc/foundationstones/firefactsandstatistics/what+statistics+can+tell+you.htm#whyfireshappen

There are comparisons of international fire statistics (a little dated) at
http://www.geocities.com/45peter/worldFIREstats.html

The USA has persistently higher levels of fire deaths than most of the
other countries analysed.

Owain