London Fire Brigade is urging smokers to ‘stub it out’ on National No Smoking Day (Wednesday 11th March) as cigarettes and other smoking materials continue to be the biggest killer in accidental home fires.
The long term health dangers of cigarettes are well documented 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
• Recent figures show that in the UK in 2007 there were 3,061 accidental house fires caused by cigarettes or other smoking materials. These caused 99 deaths and over a thousand injuries.
• It’s estimated that in London, around 40% of all fatalities in accidental house fires, are caused by smoking materials.
• Around 90% of these fires are caused by the careless disposal of smoking materials.
• The average cost of damage caused by a house fire is £25,000
London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner for Community Safety, Andy Barrett, said: “Fire 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. The economic cost of a house fire can be huge but you cannot put a cost on the lives of loved ones.”
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 offers l London residents a free home fire safety visit. Firefighters will visit your home, look for fire risks and fit free smoke alarms if they are needed. To find out more visit www.london-fire.gov.uk
For more information and advice on giving up smoking and No Smoking Day visit: www.nosmokingday.org.uk
Notes for editors
• London Fire Brigade is continuing to support the introduction of fire safer cigarettes across Europe.
• 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.
