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Campaign tackles fires caused by smoking

  • Published: Monday, 15 January 2007

Today sees the launch of a month-long Government and Fire and Rescue Service campaign to warn people of the dangers of smoking materials. The Fire Kills ‘Put it Out. Right Out’ campaign will show how easily fires can start from just one cigarette and how quickly they can spread with tragic results.

The campaign makes the point that more people die in smoking material-related fires that any other. Nearly a third of all households in England include a smoker and these households are nearly 35% more likely to have a fire than non-smoking homes. In the UK between 2000 and 2005 there were, on average, 132 deaths per year in accidental home fires caused by smoking materials.

Fires caused by cigarettes can be prevented by taking a few simple precautions:

  • don’t leave lit cigarettes, cigars or pipes unattended as they can easily overbalance as they burn down, land on a carpet or newspaper and start a fire; when you put it out, make sure it is really out
  • always use a proper ashtray and make sure it can’t be knocked over
  • never smoke in bed
  • take special care when you are tired or when you’ve been drinking
  • keep matches and lighters away from children
  • make sure you have a working smoke alarm on each floor level in your home

Further information

Visit the Fire kills website.

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