Smoking fires in residential properties are often
local news media stories. The losses from
smoking-caused fires have been consistently high
over the past 25 years—the period in which fire
cause trends have been tracked. Although one of the
less frequent causes of fires, when smoking fires do
occur they are the most deadly. They have
consistently been the first or the second leading
cause of fire deaths each and every year. This
topical report examines the characteristics of
smoking fires in residential buildings in 2002. In
2002 alone, lighted tobacco products caused an
estimated 14,450 residential fires, 520 deaths,
1,330 injuries, and $371 million in residential
property damage.
Residential smoking fires are characterized by high
levels of loss compared to other types of
residential structure fires. While property loss per
fire for residential smoking fires was 22% higher
than for residential fires generally in 2002, it is
the injury and death rates that were considerably
higher than the residential average. As Figure 1
indicates, in 2002, the fire death rate was nearly
four times higher than the overall residential fire
rate. Likewise, residential smoking fires were more
than twice as likely to result in injuries
Fire Fighters In action!
Each year, smoking fires generally result in the
highest fatality rate and among the highest injury
rates for residential fires
The higher death and injury rates of residential
smoking fires are likely related to when and where
smoking fi res tend to occur. Many smoking fires
originate in the bedroom, late in the night when the
victims are sleeping. More often than not, the
victims were involved with starting the fi re
itself.
Smoking fires represented only 4% of all known
causes for residential property fires, but they were
the second leading cause of residential fires that
resulted in deaths in 2002 (19%). Deaths resulting
from smoking fi res were second only to arson (22%
of all fire deaths). And smoking fires were the
fourth leading cause of fire injury that year,
responsible for 9% of all fi re injuries.
WHERE SMOKING FIRES START
Many of the fires caused by lit tobacco products
start in the bedroom or living room/family room
areas of a home. When all the known causes of
residential smoking fires are considered together,
28% of those fires originated in a bedroom of less
than five occupants; 12% in the living/family room.
Together, they account for 40% of all smoking fires.
ITEMS FIRST IGNITED
Upholstered furniture and trash were the two items
most often ignited in 2002 residential smoking fires
(Figure 3).When taken together, these two items
accounted for 29% of all residential smoking fires.
The leading four items first ignited (upholstered
furniture, trash, mattresses, pillows, and bedding)
accounted for nearly half (49%) of residential
smoking fires. The high incidence (35%) of smoking
fires where the item first ignited was upholstered
furniture, mattresses, pillows, or bedding
corresponds with bedrooms and living/family rooms as
the area of fi re origin.
WHEN SMOKING FIRES OCCUR
Smoking fires occurred with a relatively even
distribution across the 12 months of the year, with
a slightly lower incidence in the late fall and
early winter. As smoking tobacco products is not a
seasonal activity, this distribution is not
surprising.
Time of day of residential smoking fires, however,
followed a distinct pattern. Smoking fire incidence
in 2002 was lowest in the very early to mid morning
hours and highest mid day and again in the early
evening. Although residential smoking fire incidence
dropped in early hours of the day, fires that
resulted in fatalities, however, were at their
highest during the very early hours of the morning
when the victims were asleep. Smoking fires that
result in injuries generally followed fire
incidence, with a slight increase during sleeping
hours.
PROPERTY TYPE
Smoking fires, like residential structure fires
overall, occur predominantly in one- and two-family
homes. One- and two-family homes along with
multifamily dwellings (apartments) account for over
90% of both smoking fi res and residential fires in
general. Apartments, however, account for a larger
share of smoking-related fi res than for residential
fi res overall.
HUMAN FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SMOKING FIRES
Among the human factors that contribute most to the
occurrence of smoking fires is falling asleep. Where
a human factor was noted as contributing to fire
ignition, the majority of all lighted tobacco fires
were caused when the smoker (or other responsible
party) fell asleep (36%). Unattended or unsupervised
individuals and alcohol and other substance abuse
play important roles in smoking fires as well.
Unattended or unsupervised individuals accounted for
24% of residential smoking fires, followed closely
by alcohol and other substance abuse at 23%.
SMOKE ALARM PERFORMANCE
Smoke alarm performance in residential smoking fires
and fatal residential smoking structure fires is
shown in Figure 6. Although more than 90% of homes
have smoke alarms today, no smoke alarms were
present in 36% of residential smoking fires and in
32% of residential smoking fires where fatalities
occurred. Smoke alarms were present in 64% of
residential smoking fires, but only operated in 39%
of those fires. For residential smoking fires
resulting in fatalities, smoke alarms were present
in 68% of the fires, but operated in 43% of those
fires. It is a continuing concern that fire
fatalities occur with operating alarms.
FIRE CASUALTIES
Fires resulting from smoking materials were
responsible for a large portion of the fire deaths
reported to NFIRS in 2002. In years past, smoking
was the primary cause of fire death. However, 2002
saw a slight decline in deaths caused by smoking
fires and smoking fires were the second leading
cause of fire deaths (following arson). Of all
residential fire deaths in 2002, 19 percent were
from fires caused by smoking materials. Nine percent
of all fi re injuries were caused by smoking fi res
that year.
Age. Middle-aged and older adults are most often
killed or injured in residential smoking fires.
NFIRS data indicate that 77% of smoking fire
fatalities were age 40 or above. This same age group
accounts for 60% of all residential fire fatalities.
Children are not often victims of smoking fires—only
5% of all residential fi re fatalities in 2002 were
among children aged 0 to 14. Likewise, 5% of the
residential smoking fire injuries were children in
this age group.
Smoking fire-related injuries peaked at ages 40 to
49 and accounted for approximately one quarter (26%)
of all smoking fire-related injuries. By contrast,
residential fire-related injuries peaked at ages 30
to 39.This age group accounted for approximately 20%
of all fi re injuries.
Location at Time of Injury. Smoking material fires
are the most injurious to the individual smokers.
Nearly three-quarters of residential smoking fire
fatalities were involved in starting the fire. The
vast majority of these fatalities (90% of those
involved with the fire ignition or 67% of smoking
fire fatalities) were in the area of ignition when
the fire started. In addition, well over half of
residential smoking fire injuries (63%) happened to
the person ostensibly smoking and responsible for
starting the fire. Half of those injured were in the
area of ignition when the fi re started.
Activity at Time of Injury. As those residential
smoking fires that injure are more prevalent at
night, it is not surprising that casualties of
residential smoking fires were sleeping at the time
they sustained the injury. Forty percent of those
killed in residential smoking fires were asleep, as
were 35% of those injured.
A SAFER APPROACH TO SMOKING
Because lighted tobacco materials fires are severe
in terms of the injury and property loss they cause,
significant attention has been given to finding a
safer cigarette in terms of the fire risk.
Traditional cigarettes burn continuously, even when
unattended. Efforts have been made to design a
fire-safe cigarette, one that is designed to
extinguish itself when not being actively smoked.
Changes in the cigarette dimensions, density of
tobacco, paper porosity, and additives may reduce
the likelihood that a safe cigarette will ignite
bedding or soft furnishings, typical items fi
rstignited in lighted tobacco materials fi res.
Legislative measures undertaken in Congress in the
1990s mandated fire-safe cigarette test methods. New
York was the first state to investigate making
fire-safe cigarettes available to its residents, and
in 2004 New York passed a law requiring the sale of
fire-safe cigarettes. Meanwhile, the Cigarette Fire
Safety Act of 2004 was introduced to both houses of
the U.S. Congress, and then again to the U.S. Senate
in 2005.3
EXAMPLES
•
March 2005: An unattended cigarette ignited living
room furniture, causing the smoking fi re in
Maryland that killed three members of the same
family—a 91-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a
9-year-old child.4
•
March 2005: In the State of Washington, a man and
woman in their 80s were found dead in a fi re that
broke out around 8:00 a.m. and was confined to their
bedroom. One of the older adults had been smoking in
bed.5
•
August 2004: A 72-year-old man died in a Washington,
D.C. fire that was apparently started when smoking
materials ignited a couch. The presence of smoke
alarms in the apartment was not confirmed, but the
general building fire alarm was out of service.6
•
August 2004: An elderly man was critically injured
and his 60-year-old daughter was killed in a fire in
their Ohio home. The woman had been smoking on a
couch when the 1 a.m. fire broke out. There was an
oxygen tank next to her. A second woman was able to
escape while attempting to rescue the victim.
CONCLUSION
With only 4% of residential fires resulting in such
high proportions of fire casualties, more attention
needs to be given to preventing fires caused by
lighted tobacco materials.
Fires attributed to smoking materials tend to lead
the list of causes in fire fatalities each year. The
risk of dying in fires caused by lit tobacco
products increases with increasing age. Children are
the least likely to be injured in smoking fires,
even though some studies show an increase in teen
smoking activities.8, 9 Meanwhile, older adults face
an elevated risk of fire death in the presence of
smoking materials. Additional public fire safety
education programs, along with strict government
mandates for safer cigarettes, could help improve
the situation.
To request additional information or comment on this
report, visit
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/feedback
