West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office: Fire-Safe Cigarette Legislation
Cigarette Fire Facts
- Cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people - smokers and non-smokers alike - per year.
- Smoking-material structure fires killed 760 people and injured 1,520 others in 2003.
- Property losses total hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
- There were 25,600 smoking-material structure fires in the United States in 2003.
- Fires caused by smoking materials have declined in recent years, thanks in part to more stringent standards for fire-resistive mattresses and upholstered furniture, public education, and a dramatic decrease in the number of cigarettes consumed per adult in the United States. But cigarettes are still the leading cause of residential fire deaths.
- The risk of dying in a residential structure fire caused by smoking materials rises with age. Two-fifths (38%) of fatal smoking-material-fire victims are age 65 or older.
- One-quarter of victims of smoking-material fire fatalities are not the smoker whose cigarette started the fire: 34 percent are children of the smokers; 25 percent are neighbors or friends; 14 percent are spouses or partners; and 13 percent are parents.
- Almost half (43 percent) of fatal home smoking-material fire victims were sleeping when injured; one-third (32 percent) were attempting to escape, to fight the fire, or to rescue others.
Fire-Safe Cigarettes - The Time Is Now!
- Nearly one in two Americans is now or soon will be covered by fire-safe cigarette mandates approved in 21 states ( Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah and Vermont). A fire-safe cigarette mandate has also been approved for all of Canada.
- NFPA research in the mid-1980's predicted that fire-safe cigarettes would eliminate three out of four cigarette fire deaths. Had manufacture of fire-safe cigarettes become universal then, approximately 15,000 lives could have been saved by now.
(Source: National Fire Protection Association, 7/07)
Model Legislation
Read the Model Legislation provided on the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes Web site.
Source
Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes (CFSC): www.firesafecigarettes.org
To Support Legislation in West Virginia
Any groups interested in adding their support to this important life-safety legislation are encouraged to contact Carol Nolte, WV State Fire Marshal's Office, at 304-558-2191, ext. 53223.
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