COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (225) issued by The Government News Network
on 29 November 2007
Fire safer
cigarettes look set to be stocked on the UK's shop shelves.
The Government strongly supports today's agreement across the
EU to a set of standards that will enable the manufacture of these
cigarettes which if dropped or left unattended will soon go out.
The EU Commission announcement has been welcomed by both the Fire
Minister and the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser.
Speaking today Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said:
"We all know that both the safest and healthiest action is
to stop smoking altogether. But the Government also has a duty to
keep looking for ways to cut the numbers of fires and fire deaths.
Dropped or poorly extinguished cigarettes are a major cause of
accidental fires - every year they cause hundred of deaths and
injuries - so this new standard of cigarettes should provide extra
protection to the public
"We estimate that having fire safer cigarettes as standard
in the UK could save up to 120 lives per year. Across Europe this
could amount to up to 1,000 lives saved and 11,000 injuries
avoided. And fire safer cigarettes would also help in the drive
to reduce the £90million per year cost of fire in the UK.
"We have been pushing for a long time fire safer cigarettes
to be the norm across the European Union and this should now
become reality, so this is excellent news. But setting a European
standard can be quite a long process, which is why the government
is also to consult on fire safer cigarettes being introduced as
soon as possible in the UK.
"The government will also keep on getting out the Fire Kills
messages telling smokers to 'put it out, right out'."
Cigarettes burn at hundreds of degrees Celsius and as currently
manufactured they will usually continue burning down to the filter
- whether they are being smoked or not. A dropped or poorly
extinguished cigarette can start a devastating fire, and smoking
materials (predominantly cigarettes) are the single biggest cause
of both fires and fire deaths.
Fire safer cigarettes are produced differently - bands of thicker
paper placed down the length of the cigarette act as 'speed
bumps' will extinguish it if it's not being smoked and
therefore provide greater - but not total - protection against
accidental fires. These are also known and Reduced or Lower
Ignition Propensity cigarettes.
Fire deaths are at their lowest level since the late 1950s, and
between 1995 and 2005 fatal casualties from accidental fires
dropped by 36%, from 481 to 310 deaths. But the government is
committed to keep driving this down and to keep looking for new
and innovative ways of achieving this.
Between 1995 and 2005 32% of fatal fires were smoking related and
it is clear that this is an area where fires deaths can fall
further and contribute significantly to the overall reduction in
accidental fire deaths.
The European Union Commission's Committee of the General
Product Safety Directive met today - 29 November 2007 - and agreed
to mandate CEN, the EU's standards making body, to develop a
pan-European standard for production of fire safer cigarettes.
Once agreed this standard will be the norm for all cigarettes in
EU member states.
Both the government and the fire and rescue service in the UK
have long supported this work and have pushed for the safest
possible standards for cigarettes to further drive down fire deaths.
Speaking today at the European Commission the Government's
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Sir Ken Knight said:
"The decision in Europe today is a major step forward
towards reducing the unnecessary loss of life from fire. It is
the most vulnerable in society who die in fire, and 30% of all
fire deaths in the home in the UK are caused by smoking materials.
I look forward to playing an active part with European colleagues
to produce a new standard for fire safer cigarettes through the
European standards body (CEN) to reduce the risk of fire across
the EU."
Canada, Australia plus 22 States in the USA have introduced fire
safer cigarettes and early signs from New York State are that
accidental fire deaths have fallen.
The government is also committed to seeing fire safer cigarettes
as the standard for all cigarettes bought and sold as quickly as
possible. Although the European standard setting process is
likely to take several years, the government will shortly be
consulting on the introduction of an early standard for the UK
based on the USA model. Consultees will include the Chief Fire
Officers' Association, the Fire Brigades Union, anti-smoking
groups and tobacco manufacturers.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 4400;
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk