Smoking Materials

Fire Prevention with Smoking-Related Materials

Fire Safe Cigarettes

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.

Montana State Legislative Efforts:
Signed into law May 11, 2007, and became effective May 1, 2008.

Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes. Web. Oct. 2009. <www.firesafecigarettes.org>

What is a Fire Safe Cigarette?

A fire-safe cigarette has a reduced propensity to burn when left unattended. The most common fire-safe technology used by cigarette manufacturers is to wrap cigarettes with two or three thin bands of less-porous paper that act as “speed bumps” to slow down a burning cigarette. If a fire-safe cigarette is left unattended, the burning tobacco will reach one of these speed bumps and self-extinguish.

Get the Facts

In 2006, there were an estimated 142,900 smoking-material fires in the United States. These fires caused 780 civilian deaths and 1,600 civilian injuries.
Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths in the United States.
The most common items first ignited in home smoking-material fire deaths were upholstered furniture, mattresses and bedding.
Roughly one of every four fire deaths in 2006 was attributed to smoking materials.

National Fire Protection Association. Web. Oct. 2009. <http://www.nfpa.org>.

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, and 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.
Keep matches and lighters up high, out of children's sight and reach.