Fact:
Cigarettes are the leading cause
of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing almost 1,000
people - smokers and nonsmokers alike - every year.
Fact:
Property loss from smoking-material fires total hundreds
of millions of dollars each year.
Fact:
25% of victims of smoking-material fire
fatalities are not the smokers whose cigarettes started the fire: 34% are
children of the smokers; 25% are neighbors or friends; 14% are spouses or
partners; and 13% are parents.
Fact:
Mattresses and bedding, upholstered furniture, and
trash are the items most commonly ignited in smoking-material home fires.
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Safety Tips:
- If you smoke, smoke outside!
- Use deep, wide ashtrays on a
sturdy table.
- Before you throw out butts and
ashes, make sure they are out! Dousing in water or sand is the best
way to do that.
- Check under furniture cushions
and in other places people smoke for cigarette butts that may have fallen
out of sight.
- Never smoke in a home where
oxygen is being used.
- If you smoke, choose fire-safe
cigarettes. They are less likely to cause fires. (More info below)
- 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.
- Keep matches and lighters up high, out of the reach
of children.
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The Coalition for Fire Safe Cigarettes
 The
Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes is working to save lives and prevent
injuries and devastation from cigarette-ignited
fires. The Coalition is calling for manufacturers to
immediately produce and market only
cigarettes that adhere to an established fire safety performance standard,
and is working to see that this standard is required in every state in the
country. Visit
www.firesafecigarettes.org
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
research in the mid-1980s predicted that fire-safe cigarettes would
eliminate three out of four cigarette fire deaths. If cigarette
manufacturers had begun producing only fire-safe cigarettes then, an
estimated 15,000 lives could have been saved by now.
Minnesota will be enforcing the sale of fire safe
cigarettes on December 1, 2008!
Call the Willmar Fire Department at 320-235-2211 with any questions!
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Other Resources
View a
Public Service Announcement from the U.S.
Fire Administration
Learn more about the U.S. Fire Administration's
Smoking and Home Fires campaign
En Espanol
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