U.S. Fire Administration

Smoking & Home Fires Campaign PowerPoint Presentation

Slide 1:
Smoking & Home Fires:
A campaign by the United States Fire Administration to prevent the #1 cause of home fire deaths.

[Video of a man asleep in a chair holding a lit cigarette.]

Cigarettes dont know when you are asleep.

Slide 2:
Smoking is the #1 cause of home fire deaths in the United States.

Slide 3:
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) is sponsoring the Smoking & Home Fires Campaign because:

 1,000 people are killed every year from fires caused by cigarettes and other smoking materials.

 These fires are preventable.

If You Smoke, Put It Out. All the Way. Every Time.

Slide 4:
Smokers arent the only ones who suffer from smoking home fires:

 One in four people killed in home fires is not a smoker whose cigarette caused the fire.

 Thirty-four percent were children of the smokers.

 Twenty-five percent were neighbors or friends of the smokers.

Slide 5:
Fire is fast

[Video shows a demonstration of a chair in a living room going up in flames with a timer.  As time progresses, the fire continues to spread until the video ends at 5 minutes and 45 seconds when the entire room is consumed by flames.]

Slide 6:
Greg Dods, Captain of the Winfield, MD Volunteer Fire Department, responded to two fatal home fires in three weeks  both caused by cigarettes.

Quote from Greg Dods:  In a three-week period, we had three fire fatalities due to careless smoking. The tragedy is it didnt have to happen.

Slide 7:
Jason Jackman, Lieutenant of the Winfield, MD Volunteer Fire Department, was the first firefighter on the scene at one of the two fatal Winfield, MD area fires caused by cigarettes.

Quote from Jason Jackman:  When I first walked-up to the victim, I noticed that he had severe burns to the majority of his body, and it just looked like something out of a horror film. [CUT] All he kept asking me was, Is my house on fire? Is my house on fire? My answer to him was, of course, Yes, and we need to get you off of the porch get you taken care of. [CUT] Once the victim was in the back of the ambulance, he did tell the paramedic that he was smoking in bed and lit his pants on fire, and thats how the fire started. [CUT] How simple it is that it could have been avoided Not to mention the damage to the house, but the loss of the life.

Slide 8:
Action steps for prevention:

Smoke Outside 
Most home fires caused by smoking materials start inside the home. Its better to smoke outside.

[Picture of a man smoking on an outdoor patio.  A can of sand and a wide ashtray are in the picture, illustrating ways to properly extinguish cigarettes.]

Slide 9:
Use Deep, Sturdy Ashtrays

Use ashtrays with a wide, stable base that are hard to tip over. If it wobbles, it wont work.

[Picture of a wide ashtray]

Slide 10:
Make Sure Cigarettes and Ashes are Out

Put It Out.  All the Way.  Every Time.

[Picture of a cigarette being stubbed completely out in an ashtray]

Slide 11:
Soak Butts and Ashes in Water Before Throwing Away 

Slowly add water to the ashtray and make sure cigarette butts and ashes are completely soaked in water.

[Picture of an ashtray filled with cigarette butts being filled with water underneath a sink faucet]

Slide 12:

Check for Cigarette Butts 
Chairs and sofas catch on fire fast and burn fast. Dont put ashtrays on them.

If people have been smoking in the home, check for cigarettes under cushions.

[Picture of a chair with a lit cigarette dropped between the cushions and another picture showing the chair on fire in the same place where the cigarette was dropped]

Slide 13:
Never Smoke in a Home Where Oxygen is Used

Never smoke while using oxygen or anywhere near an oxygen source, even if it is turned off. Oxygen can be explosive and makes fire burn hotter and faster.

[Image of a personal, wheeled oxygen tank with a large cross-out mark over the tank]

Slide 14:
If You Smoke, Fire-Safe Cigarettes are Better 

Fire-safe cigarettes are less likely to cause fires. These cigarettes have banded paper that can slow the burn of a cigarette that isnt being used. 

Slide 15:
Be Alert!

If you are sleepy, have been drinking, or have taken medicine that makes you drowsy, put your cigarette out first. Smoking in bed is just plain wrong.  Cigarettes dont know when you are asleep.

[Image of a man falling asleep in a chair while holding a lit cigarette]

Slide 16:
Keep Your Home Safe   

 Place properly installed and maintained smoke alarms on every level of your home.

 Get smoke alarms that can sound fast for both a fire that has flames, and a smoky fire that has fumes without flames.  They are called Dual Sensor Smoke Alarms.

 Check smoke alarm batteries at least once every year.  You can use a familiar date such as when you change your clocks or your birthday, as a reminder.

 Create an escape plan.  Plan two ways to escape from every room.  Practice the escape plan with everyone in the home.

 If at all possible, install residential fire sprinklers	in your home.

Slide 17:

Take it from a firefighter

Quote from Jason Jackman:  The main thing I could tell you is not to smoke in the house, but if you do, you need to make sure when you put that cigarette out that you either run it under water or make sure its out when you put it in the ashtray.

Quote from Greg Dods:  The ease of lighting a cigarette is just as easy as putting it out correctly. Put it out, put it under water, make sure its out. Have the proper ashtray available to put it out. Its so easy. It was easy enough to light it, it should be just as easy to put it out correctly.

Slide 18:

Campaign partners

[Campaign logos displayed]

* American Fire Sprinkler Association
* BIFMA International (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association
* Burn Foundation
* Center for Campus Fire Safety
* Fire and Life Safety Section (part of IAFC)
* Florida Association of Fire and Life Safety Educators (FAFLSE)
* Home Safety Council
* International Association of Fire Chiefs
* National Association of Hispanic Firefighters
* National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
* Polyurethane Foam Association
* Residential Fire Safety Institute
* Safe Kids Worldwide

Slide 19:

If you are a smoker, Put It Out.  All the Way.  Every Time.

To learn more about the Smoking & Home Fires Campaign or
to order materials, please visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/smoking

The U.S. Fire Administration is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  FEMA coordinates the federal governments role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

FA-309 / June 2007