Injury Prevention: The Case for Fire-Safe Cigarettes

Cigarettes cause more US residential fire deaths each year than any other ignition source. Consequently, investigators at the Medical College of Wisconsin Injury Research Center (IRC-MCW) have reviewed the most current research to publish a compelling brief on how implementation of fire-safe-cigarette laws will reduce the impact of structure fires ignited by smoking materials on our communities.

Fire-safe cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish when left unattended. At this time, 14 states have passed fire-safe cigarette laws, and 20 others have introduced such legislation. Wisconsin is not among them.

The brief is the first in a series to be created by the Injury Research Center. They are intended to foster the process of "evidence-based" policy; bringing research solutions to society in an effort to save lives and health care dollars while improving the publics' quality of life.

The authors found that in a study of cost savings associated with 84 different types of injury prevention, fire-safe cigarettes scored among those with the highest benefit-cost ratio. Current data also reveals that cigarette-ignited fires add to the US health disparity gap, affecting more people in low socioeconomic groups.

In 2002, lighted tobacco products caused 14,450 residential fires, $371 million in residential property damage, 520 deaths and 1,330 injuries. One of every four of these fire deaths happened to individuals other than the smoker, and 34 percent of those were children.

"We refer to these as 'second-hand' injuries, because like second-hand smoke, they damage someone other than the smoker," said Timothy Corden, MD, Co-director of the Injury Research Center's policy core and principal author of the brief.

Other data highlights include these statistics for 2003:

• Cigarette-ignited fires account for 19 percent of residential fire fatalities and nine percent of injuries.
• Most cigarette fire deaths occur between 2 and 3 a.m., and most deaths occur when the fire starts in the living room, family room or den.
• Human factors associated with cigarette-ignited fire deaths include: sleeping - 50 percent; ages 65 and over - 38 percent; and alcohol or drug impairment - 33 percent.

Several states and Canada have recognized that not all people will correctly extinguish their cigarettes 100 percent of the time, and have now mandated fire-safe cigarettes. Oregon was the first to introduce legislation in 1979. However, more than 20 years elapsed, with an estimated 7,500 lives lost, before any state successfully moved the policy forward. New York passed the first US fire-safe legislation in 2000 and it went into effect in 2003.

All current state legislation and Canada's law are based on the same fire-safe performance established by New York state. Such uniformity allows the same product to be sold in multiple states, avoiding the production costs of meeting multiple state standards.

The brief also references studies finding that potential concerns of the tobacco industry and smokers regarding consumer acceptance, sales volume, brand availability and price associated with a fire-safe product have all proven to be unfounded. It also notes that while fire safe cigarettes don't appear to be any more or less toxic than current cigarettes, following the long-term health effects of the new product would be prudent.

Dr. Corden is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Critical Care Medicine). His faculty co-authors on the brief were Keri Briel Frisch, MS, Manager of Policy Initiatives at the IRC; and IRC Director Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, MPH, Chairman and Professor of Emergency Medicine.

Data for the brief was collected nationwide from the National Fire Injury Reporting System, which relies on local fire departments reporting data to state-based agencies.

Each year, Medical College of Wisconsin physicians care for more than 180,000 patients, representing nearly 500,000 patient visits. Medical College physicians practice at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, and many other hospitals and clinics in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin.