- Author
- Hall, J. R., Jr.
- Title
- Smoking-Material Fire Problem.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
- smokeing | costs | fire statistics | home fires | structures | cigarettes
- Identifiers
- fires started by smoking materials; victim patterns for smokeing material fires; how national estimates are calculated
- Abstract
- In most years, smoking materials are the leading cause of fire deaths in the U.S. and every other country where fire deaths can be analyzed by cause. (In this analysis, "smoking materials" refer only to lighted tobacco products, not matches or lighters.) In 2001, smoking-material structure fires decreased, from 32,500 in 2000 to 31,200. These fires resulted in 830 civilian deaths, 1,770 civilian injuries and $386 million in direct property damage, all decreases from 2000. More people die in smoking-material fires than in any other type of fire in the U.S. Trash, mattresses and bedding, and upholstered furniture are the items most commonly ignited in smoking-material home fires. The risk of dying in a residential structure fire caused by smoking materials rises with age. Two fifths (40%) of fatal smoking-material-fire victims were age 65 or older, compared to their 12% share of the population. Older adults (age 65 and over) are less likely to smoke than younger adults. Therefore, their high rates of smoking-material fire deaths per million people are even more noteworthy.