Smoking Can Cause House Fires

10/7/2019 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Bartow County can make it "Like it never even happened"!

In recent years, the average number of US home fires attributed to smoking accounts for about 5% of all reported home structure fires. This is an average of 18,100 home fires per year, which resulted in over $475 million in direct property damage. Nearly 600 souls were lost year-to-year from 2012-2016 and another 1,100+ were injured each year during the same time period. On average one in twenty home fires are caused by smoking related materials. Of these home fires nearly one in ten results in some type of injury and one in four result in a fatality(s).

While these statistics can be best interpreted as depressing and disheartening we can glean some valuable information from this data. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) tirelessly collects and reports on these types of events in an effort to educate the public and prevent fires. The NFPA has reported in recent years that home fires caused by smoking materials are on the decline. This is particularly true when compared to the early 90's and is sharply down in comparison to the 70’s and 80’s. This could be attributed to a few reasons like the improvements in fire safe building materials, the US Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1990,  and an overall decline in the number of smokers.

SERVPRO of Bartow County is Cartersville’s premier fire restoration company and is available 24/7! If you need help cleaning up after a fire, call the pros at SERVPRO of Bartow County. We are the restoration team that can get the job done right the first time. When you call SERVPRO you can rest assured our team will restore and treat your home as if it was their own.

Smoking Fire Safety Tips

• If you smoke, use only fire-safe cigarettes. Fire-safe cigarettes are cigarettes that have been engineered to self-extinguish if left unattended.
• If you smoke, smoke outside. By smoking outside you lessen the probability of catching a structure on fire.
• Keep cigarettes, lighters, matches and other smoking materials in a safe place, out of the reach of children. 
• If you smoke, safely dispose of cigarette butts. Use a deep and sturdy ashtray and make sure it is located a safe distance from other objects or structures.
• Do not discard smoking materials like cigarette butts and ash in vegetation that could easily ignite such as mulch, potted plants or landscaping, peat moss, dried grasses, or leaves.
• When disposing of cigarette butts and ash smother them with sand or water to make sure that they are completely extinguished.
• Elderly individuals are at higher risk of dying in a home fire caused by smoking materials.

Are Electronic Cigarettes Safer?

There have been several documented cases of home fires caused by electronic cigarettes or “vaping”. Lithium-ion Batteries commonly used in e-cigarettes have been known to catch fire and even explode under certain conditions. These batteries have exploded or caught fire while being used, as well as when they were being charged and when they were simply being transport. Electronic cigarettes should be used with caution and have not been shown to be a safe alternative to smoking. For more info on the health risks of vaping click here.