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If you smoke, smoke outside. |
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Use deep, wide ashtrays on a sturdy table. |
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Before you throw out butts and ashes, make sure they are out, and dousing in water or sand is the best way to do that. |
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Check under furniture cushions and in other places people smoke for cigarette butts that may have fallen out of sight. |
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Never smoke in a home where oxygen is being used. |
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If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes . They are less likely to cause fires. |
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To prevent a deadly cigarette fire, you have to be alert. You won’t be if you are sleepy, have been drinking, or have taken medicine or other drugs. |
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Keep matches and lighters up high, out of children’s sight and reach |
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The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes, coordinated by NFPA, is calling for cigarette manufacturers to immediately produce only cigarettes that adhere to an established safety performance standard.
Facts & figures
- Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths in the United States. Roughly one of every four fire deaths in 2005 was attributed to smoking materials.
- In 2005, there were an estimated 82,400 smoking-material fires in the United States. These fires caused 800 civilian deaths and 1,660 civilian injuries.
- Older adults are at the highest risk of death or injury from smoking-material fires even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
- The most common material first ignited in home smoking-material fire deaths were mattresses and bedding and upholstered furniture.
- In Canada there were 7,700 fires in 2002 associated with smoking materials. These fires caused 140 civilian deaths, 470 civilian injuries and direct property damage of $132 million Canadian ($84 million U.S. ).
Source: NFPA’s “The Smoking Material Fire Problem,” John R. Hall, Jr., November 2007.
Incidents
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