Fire Prevention

Smoking

Smoking Safety

– If you smoke, use only fire-safe cigarettes.
– If you smoke, smoke outside. Most deaths result from fires that started in living rooms, family rooms and dens or in bedrooms.
– Keep cigarettes, lighters, matches, and other smoking materials up high out of the reach of children, in a locked cabinet.

Put It Out

– Use a deep, sturdy ashtray. Place it away from anything that can burn.
– Do not discard cigarettes in vegetation such as mulch, potted plants or landscaping, peat moss,
dried grasses, leaves or other things that could ignite easily.
– Before you throw away butts and ashes, make sure they are out, and dousing in water or sand is the best way to do that.

Smoking materials, including cigarettes, pipes, and cigars, started an estimated 17,200 home structure fires reported to U.S. fire departments in 2014. These fires caused 570 deaths, 1,140 injuries and $426 million in direct property damage. Smoking materials caused 5% of reported home fires, 21% of home fire deaths, 10% of home fire injuries, and 6% of the direct property damage.

“Reproduced from NFPA’s website, www.nfpa.org/publiceducation. © NFPA.”