Oh, boy. Tough question.

In terms of safety, I'd say hexamine (e.g. ESBIT) stoves are probably the best. They can't spill, they aren't super hot, and you can just blow them out. Of course hexamine is the most expensive fuel, has limited heating power (it's kind of weak), is very vulnerable to wind, leaves some sticky goo behind on the bottom of your pot, and there's no adjusting the flame (it's either on or off).

For new users, say a young Boy Scout or Girl Scout, I usually recommend a canister gas stove. In terms of safety, they can't spill, there's no priming, and they're very reliable mechanically. In terms of ease of use, they have relatively good wind resistance, they have good power, and the flame is very adjustable.

Gas stoves are pretty good, but you can do screwy things with a gas stove. Like too tight of a windscreen (although I generally don't recommend windscreens to new users). Or say you've got the whole troop cooking. Together. On one picnic table. All those stoves so close together, radiating heat to one another. That could be bad.

And there's always cross threading. And very reliable still isn't 100% reliable. I've had a gas canister valve jam open when I removed the stove. NEVER CHANGE CANISTERS NEAR A HEAT SOURCE OR WHEN THE STOVE IS STILL HOT.

After gas stoves, kerosene stoves. If you're going to use liquid fuel, kerosene is definitely safest. It's actually hard to get kerosene to burn. Kerosene stoves are basically like white gas stoves but with a safer fuel.

After kerosene, alcohol stoves. Alcohol stoves don't burn very hot by comparison to petroleum base fueled stoves, but you can still burn the heck out of yourself. Alcohol stoves can and do spill, and that can be very bad. Most alcohol stoves have no way to be shut off other than burning themselves out. And a lot of people have gotten burned by the invisible flames. Particularly dangerous is adding fuel when you think the flame is out but it's not.

Then white gas stoves. You can really screw up priming, and it's possible to over-pump a stove. Stoves like a Svea 123 or Primus 71 don't have a pump, but the flame is mere centimeters from the fuel. Generally, I think the remote style stoves are a bit safer (like a Whisperlite) because the fuel is separate from the flame, but then again a Svea 123 or Primus 71 doesn't have a pump, so maybe that's something of an equalizer.

Last place is wood stoves. You have to feed them. Mostly that's done by hand. You're hand is made out of flesh. Flesh burns. This is not a good combo. I've also had a number of injuries just breaking up wood for the fire. And of course, depending on your set up, there's the risk of burning the whole forest down.

So, there you have it, HJ's off the cuff take on stove safety.

Summary (in order from safest to least safe):
1. Hexamine
2. Canister gas
3. Kerosene
4. Alcohol
5. White gas
6. Wood

I think those are all the major fuels, although maybe I should include yak dung and other exotics.

HJ