Off
Campus Living
Resources
Smoking and Fire Safety
| What
is the danger of smoking materials? Nationwide, smokingmaterials
are the leading cause of fire deaths. In 1998, these fires killed
over 900 people, injured almost 2,500 and caused $411.7 million in
direct property damage. More people die from fires started by smoking
materials than any other type of fire-22% of all of the fire deaths
in 1998.
This is of significant concern to the college student because according to the U.S. Department of Education, 2/3 of the students enrolled in four-year colleges and universities live off-campus in houses and apartments. The very locations where many of these fire deaths occurred. And the problem is with cigarettes. Cigars and pipes represent only 2% of the fires. How do these fires occur? Almost ¾ of the fires caused by smoking material are the result of a cigarette being abandoned or carelessly disposed. In other words, someone was not thinking, not paying attention and just not being careful. What is the material most commonly ignited in these fires? The three leading materials that were ignited in fires started by cigarettes include:
In
1998, over 73% of the people that died in smoking-related fires
were killed by fires that started in either a mattress or an upholstered
chair. |
Fires
Caused by Smoking Materials
Chapel Hill, NC…Fraternity fire, five dead Burlington, VT…off campus house fire Charlottesville, VA…apartment fire Athens, OH…dorm room fire Plymouth, NH…house destroyed New Orleans, LA…dorm room fire Austin, TX…fraternity fire |
Center for Campus Fire Safety, a non-profit organization
PO Box 2358
Amherst, MA 01004
413-323-6002
info@campusfire.org
www.campusfire.org
