How To Avoid Cigarette Fires In Your Home

7/19/2019 (Permalink)

Take your cigarette outside

How To Avoid Cigarette Fires In Your Home

According to the National Fire Protection Association or NFPA, smoking materials, such as cigarettes, contributed to 18,200 home structural fires between 2012 and 2016. Also, during this period, cigarette fires cost an estimated $476 million in direct property damage. Don’t add yourself to the statistics. Find out how to avoid a cigarette fire in your home

1. Smoke outside. Take your cigarette outside. Make yourself a place outside on the back porch with an ashtray or purchase a large outdoor ashtray. These outdoor ashtrays are fire retardant and restrict oxygen to extinguish the cigarette quickly. If used properly, it will also help to keep your yard free of cigarette butts.

2. Put out your cigarette. Always be aware of your cigarette. When you are ready to throw it away, make sure you have totally snuffed it out. Run the butt under water or smother it in sand. Extinguish the cigarette in an ashtray completely to guarantee there are no embers still lit. Use a well-made ashtray, as ashtray fires may occur in a cheaper product.

3. Don’t smoke in bed. Smoking in bed or on the couch is the main contributing cause of cigarette fires. Blankets, sheets, and upholstery easily ignite when a person unknowingly drops a lit cigarette after falling asleep. As a precautionary measure, never smoke in the bedroom, and don’t lay down on the couch with a cigarette in hand.

4. Don’t smoke near oxygen. Not smoking near oxygen may be a no-brainer, but some smokers will continue their habit even when on medical oxygen. The Center for Disease Control estimates 10 to 43% of those on oxygen therapy continue to smoke. There is more chance for severe injury when a cigarette fire occurs near oxygen.

In Kansas City, MO, as in all states around the nation, a cigarette fire not only takes a physical toll but an emotional one as well. Fire cleanup after any fire is a costly undertaking and having to contact a fire damage restoration specialist will add to the total. Pay attention and avoid a controllable situation.