The IAFC and the Fire and Life Safety Section Urge Fire Departments to Take Part

IAFC On Scene: February 1, 2008

The IAFC is a proud partner with the U.S. Fire Administration in a year-long public-safety campaign to end the number-one cause of preventable home fire deaths: fires started by smoking materials.

Every year, about 1,000 people are killed in smoking-related home fires. According to the USFA, one-in-four people killed in home fires is not the smoker whose cigarette caused the fire. Thirty-four percent were children of the smokers and 25 percent were neighbors or friends of the smokers. Too often, the victim is a firefighter trying to save them.

On January 12, 1992, a seven-year-old Maryland boy died as a result of a fire caused by smoking-related materials, as well as Kenny Hedrick, a volunteer firefighter, who was trapped and died in the basement of that home. Kenny’s mother Cathy Hedrick, director of Survivor Programs for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said, "The cause of this tragic fire that took the lives of two innocent victims was a smoldering cigarette in the family room."

The IAFC, with the leadership of the Fire and Life Safety Section, continues to move forward on the national level to enhance public awareness on a variety of home fire-prevention issues, from reduced ignition-strength ("fire-safe") cigarettes to residential sprinklers and a combination of photoelectric and ionization smoke alarms.

"This campaign is a model of the grassroots efforts that are critical to preventing deadly home fires," said Chief Steven P. Westermann, IAFC President. "We can make great progress in the reduction of home fires by working with government and industry, but education of the public—and particularly smokers—can have immediate life-saving results."

"Most smoking-related home fires happen on beds, furniture or in trash when smokers do not put cigarettes all the way out, toss hot ashes in the trash or fall asleep while smoking," said U.S. Fire Administrator Chief Gregory B. Cade. "What’s important to remember is that smoking home fires can easily be prevented. It just takes a few seconds to light up – and a few seconds to make sure that cigarette is really out."

The IAFC and the Fire and Life Safety Section urge members and others in the fire and emergency services community to review their public-education efforts around smoking and home fires and to use the resources provided as part of the campaign to enhance their programs as needed.

Campaign materials include a number of tools—available in both English and Spanish—that your fire department can use for public education and awareness: a CD toolkit with posters, brochures, fact sheets, public service announcements, PowerPoint presentations, downloadable web banners, an engaging video of a smoking home-fire demonstration and more.