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Adults, Take Responsibility for Your Cigarettes!
- Always use a proper ashtray and make sure it can’t be knocked over
- Never leave a lit cigarette lying around
- Take special care when you’re tired or when you you’ve been drinking
- Never smoke in bed
- Keep matches and lighters away from children
Latest annual figures show:
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Fires started by cigarettes kill more people than any other kind of fire - accounting for one third of all accidental fatal fires in the home. |
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In 2005, 82 deaths and over 1,000 injuries occurred as a result of fires caused by smoking. |
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You are six times more likely to die and almost twice as likely to be injured in a fire caused by a cigarette than you are with other fires. |
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To put out a house fire, the standard call-out will include 2 fire engines, 10 fire fighters and 200 gallons of water. |
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Households containing a smoker are almost 40 per cent more likely to suffer a fire than non-smoking households. |
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Smokers are almost 25 per cent more likely not to own a working smoke alarm. |
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A packet of 20 cigarettes costs £4.89 (National Statistics Retail Prices) whereas the average damage caused by a house fire costs £25,500 (The Economic Cost of Fire). |
On average over the last 5 years:
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about 420 people are killed in house fires and 13,000 are injured each year. |
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nearly 240 of the people killed in house fires each year didn't have a smoke alarm. |
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over 80 people have been killed every year because their smoke alarms didn't work - usually because the battery was flat or missing. |
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Latest annual figures show:
Smoking could be more dangerous than you think. Every 3 days, someone dies because of a cigarette fire.
Boys beware - men are more likely to be killed or injured in cigarette fires
Sources:
Fire Statistics, Communities and Local Government
The Economic Cost of Fire, E&W, 2003, Communities and Local Government
British Crime Survey, 2004/05
Further information
Alternatively, further information about cigarette safety can be found on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website:
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Careless smoking: Put it out. Right out.
DCLG campaign |
www.communities.gov.uk |
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Cigarette fires leaflet
Languages available: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, French, Greek, Gujerati |
www.communities.gov.uk |
Community Fire Safety
01743 260 260
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