London Fire Brigade is urging smokers to ‘stub it out’ on National No Smoking Day (Wednesday 14th March) as cigarettes continue to be the biggest killer in accidental home fires.
The long term health dangers of cigarettes are well known but many Londoners are unaware of other risks of lighting up:
• Around a third of all London homes include a smoker and these households are more likely to be involved in a fire
• In the UK between 2000 and 2005 there were on average 120 deaths per year in accidental home fires caused by smoking materials.
• It’s estimated that in London, around 40% of all fatalities in accidental house fires, are caused by smoking materials.
• The average cost of damage caused by a house fire is £25,500
Val Shawcross, Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority said: “Smoking doesn’t only cause long term health dangers – it can kill in minutes, cause serious injuries or wreck your property. All it takes, is for you to fail to put your cigarette out properly, or to fall asleep when smoking in bed.
“Our firefighters attend too many fires caused by cigarettes and other smoking materials and the sad thing is; the deaths and injuries these incidents cause could be avoided.”
If you are not ready to give up smoking this time around, follow these simple precautions to prevent a fire at your home:
· Always make sure your cigarette is fully extinguished.
· Take extra care when you’re tired or have been drinking alcohol. It’s very easy to fall asleep without realising that your cigarette is still burning.
· Never smoke in bed - if you need to lie down, don’t light up. You could doze off and set your bed on fire.
· Never leave lit cigarettes cigars or pipes unattended - they can easily overbalance as they burn down, land on a carpet or newspaper and start a fire.
· Where possible buy child-resistant lighters and matchboxes - every year children die by starting fires with matches and lighters.
· Use a proper, heavy ashtray that can’t tip over easily and is made of a material that won’t burn.
· Tap your ash into an ashtray – never a wastebasket – and don’t let the ash or cigarette ends build up in the ashtray.
· Fit and maintain a smoke alarm - when a fire starts, you only have a few minutes to escape. A working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and dial 999. You can get a basic smoke alarm for the same price as a packet of cigarettes. Better still are those smoke alarms with long-life batteries or are mains-powered.
The Brigade is offering all London residents a free home fire safety check. Firefighters visit homes, look for fire risks and can fit free smoke alarms if they are needed. Call 08000 28 44 28 to arrange a home fire safety check.
For more information and advice on giving up smoking and No Smoking Day visit: www.nosmokingday.org.uk
Note to editors:
• London Fire Brigade is calling for a European law to require tobacco manufacturers to meet a new “fire safer cigarette” standard, which could slash the number of fires and fire deaths.
• Fire safer cigarettes, also called ‘reduced ignition propensity or ‘RIP’ cigarettes, are cigarettes with ultra-thin bands or “speed bumps” at intervals down the length of the cigarette. These bands cause the cigarette to go out if not “puffed” by the smoker.
• For a table showing the number of accidental dwellings fires due to smoking materials (by London borough) contact the Brigade Press Office
Members of the media can obtain further information from the press office on:
telephone number: 020 8536 5922
email: press@london-fire.gov.uk
