Smoking and Home Fire Safety

3/15/2021 (Permalink)

Smoking material fires are preventable.

Home.  The place we feel safest, is where most smoking-materials structure fires, deaths, and injuries occur.  Smoking materials are the leading cause of fire deaths.  Smoking material fires are preventable with the following tips from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Smoking Safety

• If you smoke, use only fire-safe cigarettes.
• If you smoke, smoke outside.  Most deaths result from fires that started in living rooms, family rooms, dens, or bedrooms.
• Keep cigarettes, lighters, matches, and other smoking materials up high out of the reach of children, in a locked cabinet.
• Never smoke where medical oxygen is used.  Medical oxygen can cause materials to ignite more easily and make fires burn at a faster rate than normal.  It can make an existing fire burn faster and hotter.

Put it Out

• Use a deep, sturdy ashtray.  Place it away from anything that can burn.
• Do not discard cigarettes in vegetation such as mulch, potted plants, leaves, or other things that can ignite easily.
• Before you throw away butts and ashes, make sure they are out, and dousing in water or sand is the best way to do that.

Has your home been affected by fire damage?  Call SERVPRO of Allegan/Barry/Van Buren Counties to restore your property, 269-686-0664