NBS TECHNICAL NOTE 750

Matches and Lighters

In Flammable Fabric Incidents:

The Magnitude of the Problem
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

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IONAL BUREAU OF STAH9ABDS

JAN 2 4 TO

a/oo Matches and Lighters

5

!f~ln Flammable Fabric Incidents:

f^a. The Magnitude of the Problem

a.- 3-

James A. Slater, Benjamin Buchbinder, and

Henry Tovey

Fire Technology Division

Institute for Applied Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D.C. 20234

NBS Technical Notes are designed to supplement the Bureau's regular publications program. They provide a means for making available scientific data that are of

transient or limited interest. Technical Notes may be

listed or referred to in the open literature.

f w \

\

'"aiu of * A^*^K^^U£ ~^A4-£a- ~n*~£> . J^O

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Peter G. Peterson, Secretary

"1/ . J, NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Lawrence M. Kushner, Acting Director,

Issued December 1972
National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 750

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 750, 27 pages (Dec. 1972) CODEN: NBTNAE

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (Order by SD Catalog No. 03.46:750). Price 55 cents.
Contents

Page

1. Introduction 1

1.1. The Role of Ignition Sources 1

1.2. The Flammable Fabrics Accident Case and

Testing System 2

2. Findings 3

2.1. Ignition Sources in Flammable Fabric Incidents 3

2.2. Age and Sex of Persons Involved 5

2.3. Location of Incidents 7

2.k. Activities of Persons Involved at Time of Ignition ... 8

2.5. Extent of Injury 12

2.6. Relation of Matches and Lighters to Fabric

Item Involvement I**

2.6.1. General Ignition of Fabrics I**

2.6.2. Match and Lighter Ignitions of Fabrics 15

2.6.3. Flammable Liquid Involvement IT

3. Conclusions and Recommendations 19

in
Tables

Page

1. Ignition Sources for Flammable Fabric Incidents 3

2. Major Ignition Sources for Flammable Fabric Incidents .... 1+

3. Age and Sex of Persons Involved in Match and Lighter

Incidents 6

k. Age Distributions for Persons (Age Known) Involved in

FFACTS Match and Lighter Incidents and for the United

States as a Whole 6

5. General Location of Incidents By Age of Persons Involved. . . 7

6. Specific Location of Home Fires By Age of Persons

Involved 8

7. Activities of Persons Involved, By Age

8. Persons Under the Influence of Intoxicants 10

9. Presence of Intermediary Materials By Age Group 11

10. Specific Intermediary Material Involvement By

Age Group 12

11. Extent of Injury By Age 13

12. Ignition Sources By First Fabric Item Category Ignited. ... 1^

13. First Fabric Item Ignited By Age of Persons Involved Id

Ik. Flammable Liquid Involvement By First Fabric Item Ignited . . 18

IV
Matches and Lighters In Flammable Fabric Incidents:

The Magnitude of the Problem

James A. Slater, Benjamin Buchbinder and Henry Tovey

Matches and lighters were a major factor in the 1,838

flammable fabric incidents studied for which ignition sources

are known. They accounted for ^30, almost one-fourth, of the

ignitions and led to 375 injuries, of which 57 were fatal.

Children and the elderly were the groups most frequently involved in fires started by matches or lighters. Nearly half

the incidents involved children under age 11, and two-thirds

of these were children under age 6. Forty-four of the 57

fatalities were children under age 11 or adults over 65. The

highest fatality rate, 57 percent, was experienced by persons

over age 65. The home was the predominant location of fires

involving matches and lighters. Of the fabric. items ignited

by matches and lighters, garments were first to ignite four

times as frequently as non-apparel items such as furnishings

and bedding. Over one-third of the incidents involved intermediary materials in the ignition sequence. Match ignitions

outnumbered lighter ignitions by 6 to 1. Among the ^30 match

and lighter incidents, fires involving children were overwhelmingly the result of playing with matches and lighters,

whereas for persons over age 16, smoking was the single most

prevalent activity at the time of ignition.

Keywords: Fabric fires; FFACTS; fire injuries; flammable

fabrics; ignition sources; lighters; matches.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Role of Ignition Sources

The flammability characteristics of fabric products are only one of

the contributing causes of fabric fire incidents. An ignition source must also be present; otherwise, there can be no fire. Thus, one way to

reduce the frequency of fire incidents would be to design ignition sources

in a manner that would minimize the likelihood of starting unwanted fires

by accident or by misuse. For this purpose, an effort is under way at the

National Bureau of Standards (NBS), in parallel with the development of

fabric product flammability standards, to identify those ignition sources which are causally involved in unwanted fabric fires and to characterize

the nature of those involvements. This effort hopefully will contribute
to the design of safer ignition sources and thus reduce the level of the

fire hazard. This report presents a summary and analysis of information

on matches and lighters as ignition sources in fabric fire incidents,

derived from the NBS Flammable Fabrics Accident Case and Testing System,

a subsystem of the National Fire Hazard and Loss Data System.

1.2. The Flammable Fabrics Accident Case

and Testing System

Section lk& of the Flammable Fabrics Act, as revised and amended

December lU, 19&7, states that the Secretary of Health, Education, and

Welfare in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a continuing study and investigation of deaths, injuries and economic

losses resulting from accidental burning of fabric products. In the

spirit of this legislative mandate, the two agencies are cooperating

to obtain the needed information. Accidental fires involving fabric

products are investigated by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators using questionnaires developed in cooperation with the NBS Fire

Technology Division (FTD). Reports on these incidents, along with the

remains of fabric products involved, are sent to the FTD Information and

Data Section for analysis and testing. These incidents are not selected

on a statistical basis and they do not, therefore, constitute a statistically representative sample of all fabric fire accidents in the

United States. Nevertheless, they represent events investigated without

known preference and may be roughly representative of incidents reported

to the agencies from which the FDA obtains accident data.

The FTD processes the reports and fabric samples received from FDA,

through FFACTS. The procedures under FFACTS include reviewing and screen- ing of incident reports, laboratory testing and characterization of the

fabric products involved in the accidents, data encoding, formatting,

editing, and entry into a computer master file. Up to 200 data elements are coded for each fire accident case. The encoded data are derived

from the incident reports. They include the time and location of the

accident, personal and socio-economic facts about the victim, extent of

injury and losses, the sequence of events leading to the accident, and

the nature of involvement of the fabric product. Data derived from

laboratory tests performed on the fabric products' remains are also

encoded, including fabric construction and fiber content, and the results

of flammability tests.

Data in the computer master file are tabulated and analyzed to provide quantitative information on the relative frequencies of the involvement of different fabric products, as well as on trends and significant

interrelationships between parameters. Such information is further

analyzed and interpreted to develop candidate priorities for national

mandatory standards for the flammability of fabric products, to provide

the basis for the development of realistic tests which can discriminate

between highly hazardous products and those of lower potential hazard,

and to provide insight into various aspects of the flammable fabric
problem. The overall objective of the system is to identify and rank

the various ways of reducing the burden of deaths, injuries, and economic

losses sustained by the American people from the accidental burning of

fabric products.

2. Findings

The findings presented in this report are based on 1,9^8 fabric fire

incidents in FFACTS on September 1, 1972. The source of ignition is

known for 1,838 of these incidents. Matches, lighters, smoking materials,

kitchen ranges, heaters and open fires constitute the majority of the

ignition sources . The following findings concern just two of these

ignition sources - matches and lighters - which were responsible for

430 of the 1,838 known ignitions.

2.1. Ignition Sources in Flammable

Fabric Incidents

Table 1 classifies the 1,948 separate fire incidents in FFACTS by

ignition source category. It also shows the number of incidents in

which intermediary materials were involved in the ignition sequence.

Table 1. Ignition Sources for Flammable Fabric Incidents

Ignition Source

Involvement of

Intermediary Material

Yes No Unknown

TOTAL

Matches and Lighters

Smoking Materials

Kitchen Ranges

Heaters

Open Fires

Electrical Wiring. ......

Appliances (other than ranges)

Other

Total Known. . .

Unknown

TOTAL. ...........

153

15

&

86

112

10

15

107

552

42

594

266

4l6

256

74

78

42

35

69

1,236

26

1,262

11

15

53

5

53

3

50

42

92

1+30 446

163

195

57

53

179

1,838

110

1,9^8

An earlier report, NBS Report #10629, Ignition Sources in Accident Cases

Involving Flammable Fabrics , presented a preliminary summary of the role

of ignition sources in FFACTS incidents but was subject to restricted

distribution due to its preliminary nature. That report is currently

being revised for publication as an NBS Technical Note.
Twenty-three percent of the 1,838 incidents for which the ignition

source is known were initiated by matches or lighters. Smoking materials

accounted for 2k percent of known ignitions, kitchen ranges were responsible for 17 percent, open fires for 11 percent and heaters for 9 percent.

Table 2 shows the involvement of the specific ignition sources in the

three major categories identified in table 1.

Intermediary materials are any non-fabric materials, such as flammable liquids, natural gas, or paper, that become involved in the ignition

sequence and form a link between an ignition source and a fabric item.

Flammable liquids are of particular importance when they impregnate or come in contact with fabrics since this compounds the flammability hazard.

The specific role of flammable liquid involvement in match and lighter

incidents is treated in sections 2.k and 2.6.3.

In general, intermediary materials were involved in 552, or 31 percent, of 1,788 incidents for which the extent of intermediary material

involvement could be determined and for which the ignition source was

known. While only 2 percent of cigarette incidents and 17 percent of

range incidents are known to have involved intermediary materials, the

corresponding numbers for matches and lighters are 3*+ percent and 37

percent. Heaters and open fires show an even higher involvement with

intermediary materials at 52 and 57 percent, respectively.

Table 2. Major Ignition Sources for Flammable Fabric Incidents

a. Matches and Lighters

Ignition Source

Matches . . Lighters . . Unspecified

TOTAL . .

Involvement of

Intermediary Material

Yes

126

22

5

153

No

233

33

266

Unknown

11

Smoking Materials

TOTAL

366

59

5

U30

Ignition Source

Involvement of

Intermediary Material TOTAL

Yes No Unknown

TOTAL

8

3

k

15

341

10

65

kl6

10

5

15

359

13

Ik

kk6
Table 2. (cont.)

c. Kitchen Ranges

Ignition Source

Involvement of

Intermediary Material TOTAL

Yes No Unknown

11

31

3

9

5^

Qk

166

6

256

2

3

5

97

200

3

15

315

2.2. Age and Sex of Persons Involved

Table 3 shows the age and sex of all persons involved in match and

lighter incidents. The data have been grouped into six age intervals re- presenting "preschool" children ages 0-5 » children 6-10, children 11-15,

"young adults" ages 16-20, adults ages 21-65, and the "elderly" over age

65. These age groups were devised partly on the basis of apparent behavior patterns and partly for convenience of analysis and reporting. With the

exception of the 21-65 age group, each age group represents approximately

10 percent of the U. S. population, as shown in table k; the 21-65 age

group represents about 50 percent of the U. S. population. These age

groupings will be used throughout the report. (Note that the figures in

table 3 represent "persons involved", whereas the figures in table 2 re- present "incidents". These figures need not agree, since more than one person may be involved in a single incident .

)

Children under age 6 constituted 32 percent of the Ul8 persons involved in match and lighter incidents whose ages are known. Children under

age 11 represented k5 percent of the total. Of the 135 children under age

6, only 6 were under age two, and in all 6 cases their involvement was due

to the actions of other (older) persons.

There seems to be little difference between the sexes for match ignitions in the 0-5 age group, but between the ages of 6 and 20, males were

involved in three times as many match incidents as females. For lighter

ignitions, males outnumbered females, IT to 11, in the 0-5 age group. In

the over 21 category, male involvement continued to predominate in lighter

incidents, whereas the match incidents were fairly evenly divided between

male and female involvement, the latter totaling 7^ for males and 78 for

females

.

It is of interest to compare the age distribution of the Ul8 (age

known) persons involved in match and lighter incidents tabulated in FFACTS

with the age distribution of the United States as a whole. This comparison

is made in table k. The FFACTS cases are not necessarily representative

of national involvement; nevertheless, table k shows that the percentage
of children under 6 years of age involved in match and lighter incidents

is more than three times their representation in the population of the

nation. The entire age group from 11 to 65 represents kk percent of the

persons involved in FFACTS match and lighter incidents, compared to its TO

percent representation in the U. S. population. Percentage differences in

the other age groups are too small to he of interest

.

Tahle 3. Age and Sex of Persons Involved in

Match and Lighter Incidents

Age Matches

Male Female

Lighters

Total Male Female Total

TOTAL

0-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-65. ..."..

Over 65

Total Known .

Unknown

TOTAL . . . .

57

32

26

IT

5T

IT

206

5

211

50

IT

52

60

18

152

2

15U

107

h9

31

19

117

35

358

365"

a/

17

h

1

11

6

39

39

11

2

53

21

21

25^

6

1

16

9

60

60

135

55

32

19

133

kk

Ul8

I+25"a/

a/

Fourteen persons involved in match ignited fires are omitted from the

tahle "because both age and sex are unknown. The total number of persons

actually involved in match ignitions is 379; the number of persons involved in the total of match and lighter ignitions is 1*39-

Tahle k. Age Distributions for Persons (Age Known)

Involved In FFACTS Match and Lighter Incidents

and for the United States as a Whole

Age Per sons Involved Percent of Total

Number Percent of Total U. S. Population

0-5 • • 135 3^.3 . 10.3

6-10. • 55 13.2 10.0

11-15- • 32 7.7 10.2

16-20. • 19 k.5 9.1

21-65 •

• 133 31.8 50.8

Over 65 • hk 10.5 9.6

TOTAL 1*18 100.0 100.0

a/

Derived from 1970 U.S. Bureau of the Census population

statistics.
2.3. Location of Incidents

Table 5 shows the general location of the incidents involving

matches and lighters, by age of persons involved. More incidents oc- curred in and around the home than away from home for all age groups.

The overall predominance of "home" to "non-home" was four to one. For

children under age 6, 126 or 93 percent were involved in home incidents.

For the age group 11 to 20, the home, although still the location of the

majority of incidents, was the site of only 63 percent of the incidents.

This was the lowest level for any age group.

Table 5. General Location of Incidents

By Age of Persons Involved

Age Home Non-Home TOTAL

Matches Lighters Total Matches Lighters Total

0-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-65

Over 65. . . .

Total Known

Unknown. . . .

TOTAL . . .

99

38

19

12

9h

25

287

IT

30^

27

51

13

7

53

53

126

i*3 20

12

107

32

3^0

17

357

8 . 11

12

7

23

10

71

h

75

1

1

3

2

7

7

9

12

12

7

26

12

78

k

82

135

55

32

19

133

1*1*

* Ul8

21

1+39

The specific location of home fires is detailed in tables 6a and 6b

for matches and lighters, respectively. The most prevalent location for

match incidents was a bedroom, where 88 or 30 percent of the known incidents occurred. For lighters, the living room was the predominant

location, accounting for 38 percent of the incidents for which the

specific location was known.

One-third of the match incidents involving children in the 0-5 age

group took place in the bedroom. The bedroom was also the most prevalent

location of match incidents for ages 16-20 and 21-65, for 6-10 and 11-15

year olds, the yard was the most frequent location with the kitchen a close second.

Over half of the lighter incidents in the home involved children

under age 6, kk percent of the incidents for this age group taking place

in the living room, and 26 percent in the bedroom. The number of incidents in specific locations for the other age groups are too small

for meaningful analysis.
Table 6. Specific Location of Home Fires

By Age of Persons Involved

a. Match Incidents

Age Bedroom

Living

Room

a/

Den Kitchen Yard Garage Other Unknown TOTAL

0-5

6-10 ....

11-15 ....

16-20 ....

33

h

2

k

12

6

2

k

5 10

1

1

2

9

12

10

3

1

2

1

19

9

3

3

9

1

99

38

19

12

21-65 ....

Over 65 . . . 32

2

16

7

3 18

6

k

3

1

1

18

6

2 9^

25

Total known 77 k3 12 38 38 9 58 12 287

Unknown . . . 11 2 - 2 - - - 2 17

TOTAL. . . 88 ^ 12 U0 38 9 ?8 Ik 30U

sJ

Includes recreation rooms.

b. Lighter Incidents

Living a/

Age Bedroom Room Den Kitchen Yard Other Unknown TOTAL

0-5 7 12 2 3 - 1 2 27

6-10 .... 2 1 1 - 1 - - 5 11-15 .... 1 - - - - - - 1

16-20 .... - - - - - - - -

21-65 .... 2 , k _ k _ 2 1 13

Over 65 . . . - 1 - 2 1 1 2 7

TOTAL. . . 12 18 3 9 2 k 5 53

a/

Includes recreation rooms.

2.k. Activities of Persons Involved

at Time of Ignition

Playing with matches and lighters and smoking were the reported

activities of 63 percent of Ul8 persons involved in match and lighter

incidents. Tables 7a and 7b detail the activities of persons involved,

by age category, for match and lighter ignitions.
Playing with matches was the single most common activity of persons

involved. Children under age 16 accounted for 1^9 of 153 people playing

with matches and represented 80 percent of all the children under age

l6 involved in match incidents. Almost two-thirds of the ll+9 children

are under 6 years of age.

The use of matches for smoking, on the other hand, was completely

limited to persons age 16 or older. Smoking was especially hazardous

for persons over age 65, 71 percent of whom were involved in match

incidents related to smoking.

Persons involved in lighter incidents showed the same activity

pattern as persons in match incidents. All 29 persons playing with

lighters were under age 11, while all 6 persons smoking at the time of

ignition were over age 20.

Tahle 7. Activities of Persons Involved', By Age

a. Matches and Lighters Considered Separately

Age Mate hes Lighters

Playing Smoking

a/

Other- Total Playing Smoking

a/

Other Total

0-5 . . 92 - 15 107 2k - k 28

6-10 , kh - 5 h9 5 - 1 6

11-15 . . 13 - 18 31 - - 1 1

16-20 . . 2 k 13 19 - - - -

21-65 . . 2 U8 67 117 _ h 12 16

Over 65 . - 25 10 35 - 2 7 9

TOTAL. 153 77 128 358 29 6 25 60

a/

Includes persons whose activities were unknown.

b. Matches and Lighters Combined

Age Playing Smoking

a/

Other TOTAL

0-5

16-20

21-65

116

h9

13

2

2

182

k

52

27

83

19

6

19

13

79

17

153

135

55

32

19

133

kk

1H8

a/

Includes persons whose activities were unknown.

9
Table 8 summarizes the number of persons under the influence

of intoxicants in match and lighter incidents. Alcohol and drugs

may have affected the actions of a small number of people involved

in match and lighter incidents, but they were not contributing factors

in most of the ignitions. Of 383 persons for whom the information was

available, 13 were under the influence of alcohol and 5 were under the

influence of drugs. Seventeen of these 18 persons were 21 or older.

Eleven of those reported to have been intoxicated were smoking at the

time of ignition.

Table 8. Persons Under the Influence of Intoxicants

No. of Persons

Intoxicant Match Ignitions Lighter Ignitions TOTAL

Alcohol ....

Total Known.

Unknown ....

TOTAL. . . .

11

5

312

328

51

3T9

2

53

55

5

60

13

5 365

383

56

^39

A further definition of activity patterns can be obtained by

examining the role of intermediary materials in the ignition sequence.

As noted previously in section 2.1, intermediary materials were present

in 3h percent of the match incidents and 37 percent of the lighter incidents. From tables 9a and 9b it can be seen that, although children

under age 6 were the most represented age group in match and lighter

incidents, they had the lowest involvement with intermediary materials.

All other age groups had a high involvement of intermediary materials.

The 0-5 group apparently plays with matches and lighters, usually in the

absence of intermediary materials, resulting in direct ignition of fabric

items. The 6-10 age group plays with matches and lighters and intermediary materials as well, resulting in a higher proportion of indirect

ignitions of fabrics. The involvement of intermediary materials peaks

for the age group 11-20 at a level of 80 percent. Generally, the involvement of intermediary materials for persons over age 15 is related

to "using" rather than "playing with" matches and lighters.

10
Table 9. Presence of Intermediary Materials

By Age Group

a. Match Ignitions -

No

Age Intermediary Material Intermediary

Material

Unknown TOTAL

Flammable Liquid Other

0-5 8 6 91 2 107

6-10 19 3 27 - h9

21 1+ 6 - 31

9 6 k - 19

21-65 17 32 68 _ 117

Over 65 ... . - 6 28 1 35

Total Known. Ik 57 22l+ 3 358

Unknown .... - 1 17 3 21

TOTAL. . . . lh 58 2Ul 6 379

Lighter Ignitions

Age Intermediary Material

No

Intermediary

Material

Unknown TOTAL

Flammable Liquid Other

0-5

16-20

21-65

Over 65 ... .

TOTAL. . . .

1

2

1

57

16

k

1

1

6

22

3

9

1

35

1

1

1

3

28

6

1

16

9

60

Tables 10a and 10b show, for persons involved in match and lighter

incidents, the specific intermediary materials involved. In all age

groups, except the 21-65 group for match-related fires, flammable liquids were present more often than other types of materials. Gasoline and

lighter fluid, respectively, were the most common intermediary materials

found in match and lighter incidents. The one exception was the 21-65

age group in which gas was the most frequently involved material ignited

directly by matches.

11
Table 10. Specific Intermediary Material

Involvement By Age Group

a. Match Ignitions

Age Gasoline Lighter

Fluid

Other

Flamm.

Liquid

Gas Paper

Product s Other TOTAL

6-10

11-15

16-20

6

13

13

5

1 58

1* 1

6

5

1

1

2

3

ill 22

25

15

21-65 .....

Over 65 ... . 11 2 k 28

1+ 2

2

2 k9

6

Total Known. 50 3 21 39 10 8 131

Unknown .... - - - - 1 - 1

TOTAL. . . . 50 3 21 3° 11 8 132

b. Lighter Ignitions

Age Gasoline Lighter

Fluid

Gas Paper

Products

Other TOTAL

0-5 .. . - 1 - 3 1 5 6-10. . . - 2 - - 1 3

11-15. . . - 1 - - - 1

16-20. . . - - - - - -

21-65. . . 2 3 1 _ _ 6

Over 65. . 1 6 - - - 7

TOTAL . 3 13 1 3 2 22

2.5. Extent of Injury

Fires initiated by matches and lighters involved ^39 people, 375

of whom were injured including 57 persons known to have died as a result

of the incidents. Twenty-five of these fatalities were persons over

age 65, and 19 were children under age 11. The final dispositions of

69 persons injured in these incidents was unknown at the time their

cases were investigated; many were still in hospitals. Tables 11a and

lib show the extent of injury by age of persons involved for matches

and lighters, respectively.

12
Excluding the k people whose injury status was unknown, 86 percent

of the persons involved in match and lighter incidents were injured.

The ratio of match victims to lighter victims is approximately equal

to the 6:1 ratio of match incidents to lighter incidents. There were

326 match-related injuries compared to hS lighter -related injuries.

All of the people over age 65 were injured. Furthermore, by computing

a death-to-injury ratio for each age group, a major distinction can he

seen between the over 65 group and all the others . In the over 65

group, 57 percent of the kh persons injured died. This is over 5 times

the corresponding ratios for the other groups (excluding the 16-20

group, which had no deaths).

Table 11. Extent of Injury By Age

a. Matches As Ignition Source

Not

Injured

Injured Unknown

Injury

Status

Age

Recovered

Unknown a Disposition Died

Total

Injured

Total

Involved

0-5 ....

6-10

11-15 '.'.'.'.

16-20

7

2

1

1

68

30

22

17

21

11

51

11

6

3

100

hi

30

18

- 107

h9

31

19

21-65 ....

Over 65 • • • 2k 69

10

17

6

7

19

93

35

- 117

35

Total Known 35 216 61 k6 323 - 358

Unknown • • • Ik 3 - - 3 k 21

TOTAL. • • k9 219 61 k6 326 1+ 379

u

Patient's final disposition not known when case was investigated.

b. Lighters As Ignition Source

Not

In.lured

Age Unknown a/ Total Total

Injured Recovered Disposition Died Injured Involved

0-5 ... 6 16 k 2 22 28

6-10 . . . - k 2 - 6 6

11-15 . . . - 1 — _ 1 1

16-20 . . . - - - - - -

21-65 . . . 5 8 mm 3 11 16

Over 65 . . - 1 2 6 9 9

TOTAL, . . 11 30 8 11 kg 60

a/

Patient's final disposition not known when case was investigated.

13
2.6. Relation of Matches and Lighters to

Fabric Item Involvement

2.6.1. General Ignition of Fabrics

Because of varying usage patterns, different ignitions sources can be characterized by the types of fabric items that are ignited first in

a fire; and conversely, different fabric items are more frequently ignited

by one ignition source than by another. Table 12 shows, for each of

the ignition sources listed in table 1, the number of garments, bedding

and furnishing items that were first to ignite in the 1,9^8 incidents

in FFACTS. It should be mentioned here that prior to late 1970, FDA

investigators concentrated almost exclusively on garment fires. As

a result, garments are somewhat overrepresented in the FFACTS data.

Since that time, however, all fabric fires have been investigated,

regardless of the type of fabric item involved, and enough non-garment

data have been collected to firmly establish patterns of fabric item

involvement for the most common ignition sources. For example, in

FFACTS incidents initiated by smoking materials, bedding incidents (l66)

and furnishings incidents (139) both outnumber incidents involving

garments (76).

Table 12. Ignition Sources By First Fabric

Item Category Ignited

Ignition Source First Fabric Item Category Ignited TOTAL

Garment s Bedding Furnishings Other

Matches and Lighters

Smoking Materials.

Kitchen Ranges

Heaters

Open Fires

Electrical Wiring

Appliances (other than ranges)

Other

Total Known

Unknown

TOTAL

339 hi

76 166

28l 1* 132 6

189 1

21 15

23 18

lU9 13

1,210 270

hi 17

1,257 287

23

139

18

5h

16

10

15

230

2U

25*+

21

65

12

20

1

52

2

128

22

150

430

hh6

315

163

195

57

53

179 ;

L,838

110

1 i 9 m

ik
In general, apparel items, rather than bedding or furnishings,

were most frequently the first fabric item ignited. Garments were

ignited first in 79 percent of the match and lighter incidents in

FFACTS, compared with 89 percent of kitchen range incidents, 8l percent

of heater incidents and 97 percent of open fire incidents. Whereas

bedding was almost never the first fabric item ignited in range, heater

and open fire incidents, bedding ignited first in over 10 percent of the

match and lighter incidents. Small children playing with matches in

bedrooms accounted for a significant proportion of these incidents.

2.6.2. Match and Lighter Ignitions of Fabrics

Although the general category (garments, bedding or furnishings)

of the first fabric item ignited was known for i+30 match and lighter

incidents, the specific item type (shirts, mattresses, carpet, etc.)

first to ignite was known in only 320 incidents (267 for matches and

53 for lighters), as shown in tables 13a and 13b. Sleepwear and streetwear (e.g., pants, shirts, dresses) were the apparel items most frequently ignited first by matches and lighters. For match and lighter

cases combined, sleepwear was the first item ignited in almost one-third

of the cases. Pajamas and nightgowns were the most common sleepwear

items involved, especially with children. In match incidents alone,

50 percent of the persons over age 65, ^+0 percent of the children under

age 6, and 27 percent of the 21-65 year olds were involved in fires in

which sleepwear was the first item to ignite.

Shirts and blouses were ignited first in over one-fifth of the

match and lighter cases. They have the highest total frequency of

occurrence of any of the fabric items involved and rank first or second

in the number of persons involved for every age group.

As previously noted, bedding and furnishings represent only a small percentage of fabric items first ignited by matches and lighters.

There is no significant number of bedding cases or furnishing cases

for any age group except children under age 6. Sixteen children

from this group were among the 31 persons involved in match ignitions

of bedding while 5 of 7 persons involved in lighter ignitions of

bedding were also under age 6. The remaining persons involved in

bedding and furnishings ignitions were scattered throughout the other

age groups.

15
.a/

Table 13. First Fabric Item Ignited

By Age of Persons Involved

a. Matches As Ignition Source

Item Type Ag<;& TOTAL

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-65 Over 65 Unknown

Nightgowns* • • • Robes/Housecoats

Other Sleepwear •

25

8

3

k

52

- 1 8

8

6

6

k

2

1

1

1+1+ 25

Ik

1

Pants/Shorts* • • Dresses/Skirts •

• Shirts/Blouses. .

8

9

k

k

10

k

5

2

5

1*8

21

2

k

k k

20

2k

58

Outerwear .... 3 - 1 - 1 - - 5

Underwear .... k 3 k 1 3 1 - 16

Bedspr eads /Quilts

Blankets . . . . Mattresses/Pads . Other Bedding . .

6

53

2

1

1

1

1

3

6

1 1

_

8

8

10

5

Carpets /Rugs. . . Upholstery. . . . Other Furnishings

1

1

1

1

2

- -

1+1

2

1

-

1

1

6

1+3

3

6 - 1 - k 1 1 13

TOTAL 90 35 16 10 82 26 8 267

sJ

y

Includes persons involved in only those incidents for which the order

of ignition is known and for which the first fabric item ignited can be identified. The numbers in tables 12 and 13 do not agree because

in some incidents the particular item first ignited cannot be determined, although its general classification as garment, bedding or furnishing can be.

f Includes 5 incidents which involved two persons each. In one of

these, two fabric items were listed as first to ignite by the investigator; in the other four, one item was given as first to ignite.

16
Table 13. (cont.

)

b. Lighters As Ignition Source

hi

Item Type Age TOTAL

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-65 Over 65

Nightgowns ....

Robes /Housecoats .

7

2

1

1

1

1

-

— 2

2

2

10

3

6

Pants /Shorts . . . Dresses/Skirts . . Shirts/Blouses . .

2

2 1 1 _

1

5

1

1

1

3

10

Outerwear 1 - - - - - 1

Underwear 2 2 - ,- 1 - 5

Bedspreads ....

Mattresses/Pads. • 2

3

- - - 1

1

- 3

k

Carpets/Rugs . . . Other Furnishings.

1

3

- - - 1

1 -

2

k

1 - - - - - 1

TOTAL 27 «h 1 13 6 53

a/

Includes one incident which involved two persons but only one item

was given as first to ignite. See also footnote a under table 13a.

2.6.3. Flammable Liquid Involvement

Further complicating the interaction of ignition sources with

fabric items is the impregnation of some of the fabrics with flammable

liquids at the time of ignition. Whether or not a fabric item was

soaked with or was in contact with flammable liquids obviously has a direct bearing on the potential ignition and flammability hazards.

Accordingly, the presence or absence of flammable liquids in the first

fabric items ignited was ascertained definitely in 52 lighter incidents

and 250 match incidents. The results are shown in tables l^a and lkt.

Twelve percent of the match ignitions and 21 percent of the lighter

ignitions (for which the involvement of flammable liquids was determined)

involved fabric items in contact with flammable liquids. All but one of these were garments. Pants, shirts and blouses were involved in 19

of the 29 match incidents in which flammable liquids were involved.

17
Table ik. Flammable Liquid Involvement

By First Fabric Item Ignited

a. Matches As Ignition Source

Item Type

Pajamas

Nightgowns • • • Robes /Housecoats

Pants/Shorts • • Dresses/Skirts • Shirts/Blouses •

Outerwear. . . .

Underwear. . . .

Bedspreads/Quilts

Blankets ....

Mattresses/Pads

.

Other Bedding. .

Drapes

Carpets/Rugs . . Upholstery . . . Other Furnishings

Other

TOTAL ....

Flammable

Liquids

No Flammable

Liquids

"53"

2k

ik

12

21

ko

Unknown TOTAL —"53"

25

Ik

20

2k

58

6

16

7

6

10

5

5k

3

3

13

262

7

3

12

1

1

_2Q_

7

6

10

5

5

k

3

2

12

221

1

6

1

12

18
Table lU. (cont.

)

b. Lighters As Ignition Source

Item Type Flammable

Liquids

No Flammable

Liquid Unknown TOTAL

Nightgowns ....

Robes/Housecoats .

3

3

6

3

3

1 10

3

6

Pants /Shorts . • • Dresses/Skirts . . Shirts /Blouses • .

1

1

2

2

6 2

1

3

10

- 1 - 1

1 4 - 5

Bedspreads/Quilts

.

Mattresses/Pads. . Other Bedding. . . __

3

h

3 _

3

k

3

Carpets/Rugs . . . Other Furnishings.

- 2

3 -

2

3

- 1 - 1

TOTAL 11 i+1 3 55

3. Conclusions and Recommendations

Matches and lighters played a major part in the ignitions of fabric

products in fire incidents reported to the NBS Flammable Fabrics Accident

Case and Testing System. Almost one-fourth of 1,838 incidents in which

the ignition source was known were initiated by a match or a lighter.

Only smoking materials (other than matches or lighters) were responsible

for as high a proportion of ignitions. Matches alone started fabric

fires more frequently than any other single ignition source in the data

base, and were involved in six times the number of incidents that lighters

were.

The single most significant factor in the match and lighter incidents was the involvement of children. Children under age eleven

accounted for U5 percent, almost half, of the Ul8 persons involved in

these incidents. Over two-thirds of these children were under the

age of six. The fact that the U5 percent involvement is over twice the

representation of children 0-10 years old in the U.S. population and

19
the fact that the accident cases have "been investigated by the FDA

without known prejudice give these figures credibility as an indication

of the magnitude of the problem.

The general circumstances surrounding match and lighter incidents

can be classified by the behavior patterns associated with the age groups

involved. The high involvement of children is related to the fact that

playing with matches and lighters was a frequent activity of persons

involved. Of 153 people playing with matches, 1^9 were under age 16, and

two-thirds of these were under age 6. From the data it appears that

there is, as might be expected, an age prior to which children are not

involved in match or lighter fires by their own actions. Only 6 children

under age 2 were involved in match or lighter incidents, and these incidents resulted from the actions of older persons. This probably

relates to, among other things, a lack of mobility, strength, manual

dexterity, and initiative and an inability to reach matches and lighters

in high places. By the age of 2 or 3 however, children apparently have

the ability to strike matches and light lighters, as evidenced by the

fact that 28 of the 60 persons involved in lighter incidents were

under age 6. The incidence of ignitions was highest for ages 0-5, less

for ages 6-10 and less yet for ages 11-15, though still involving large

numbers of children. The youngest children have the least comprehension

and awareness of the fire hazard posed by matches and lighters, and are the most susceptible to accidents.

An' inverse relationship seems to exist between the number of incidents occurring in homes and the ages of children involved, reflecting

perhaps the increasing independence of children with increasing age.

Home ignitions for the three age groups 0-5, 6-10 and 11-20 decreased

substantially from 93 percent to 78 percent to 63 percent, respectively,

probably indicating descreasing time spent at home. The change in the

specific location of home ignitions from predominantly bedroom and

living room for children under 6 to the yard for 6-15 year olds is further

evidence of this pattern. The trend toward non-home fires was not maintained by adults, however. Home ignitions rose to 80 percent for 21-65

year olds and then dropped slightly to 73 percent for persons over 65.

Lighter incidents seem to be particularly connected with homes,

more so than matches. The ratio of home to non-home incidents for

lighters was 7 to 1 while the corresponding ratio for matches was about

k to 1. This is largely due to the high proportion of children under

age 6 involved in lighter incidents in the home (27 out of 60), compared

to the corresponding proportion for match incidents (99 out of 379); the

proportions of match and lighter ignitions in homes being fairly equal

for persons over age 5.

Between the ages of 11 and 15, there was a change from "playing"

with matches (or lighters) to "using" matches (or lighters) as the

most common activity of persons involved in the incidents reported.

Smoking was the single most prevalent activity of people over age l6

and especially for the over 65 age group.

20
Involvement of intermediary materials in the ignition sequence,

relatively unimportant in incidents involving 0-5 year olds, "became very

significant above age 5. Since playing with matches and lighters was

the predominant activity of both 0-5 and 6-10 year olds, intermediary

material involvement in the ignition sequences was the major difference

between the two. Incidents involving children of ages 0-5 were generally

the result of direct contact of a match or lighter with a fabric product.

Children ages 6-10 introduced an additional element into the sequence;

many of them directly ignited an intermediary material which then ignited

a fabric item. Intermediary materials were involved in J+5 percent of the

match ignitions for 6-10 year olds and only 13 percent of match ignitions

for 0-5 year olds. The role of intermediary materials was most pronounced

for the 11-20 age group, with kl out of 51 incidents involving such

materials. The ignition of intermediary materials by adults was almost

always in the context of "using" a match or a lighter for some specific

purpose such as lighting an oven or a cigarette. Lighter fluid was

the intermediary material in 13 of 22 lighter cases which involved such

materials. Significantly, 6 out of 7 cases involving persons over age

65 involved ignition of lighter fluid as an intermediary stage in the

ignition sequence.

Considering the methods of striking a match or lighting a lighter,

it perhaps seems logical that the user's garments should be most likely

to ignite first duetto their proximity to the ignition source. The

data bear this out in 79 percent of the match and lighter incidents.

Shirts and blouses, being the apparel items initially closest to the flame, were generally the items ignited first. For children under age 6 and adults

over age 65, sleepwear was most often ignited first in match incidents.

This is again probably due to the living patterns of these two groups

and indicates more time spent wearing sleepwear than other age groups.

On the basis of these findings, two courses of action are recommended

with the goal of reducing the hazards associated with matches and lighters,

namely, redesign and education.

The redesign of matches and lighters to make them more difficult to

light is a possible partial solution to the problem. This effort would

be aimed at children between ages 2 and 6, who are undoubtedly the biggest

problem group. Their motor coordination and dexterity are not yet well

developed, and their patience and attention span are short. Based on these physical limitations, it should be possible to design matches and

lighters so that many of these children would not be able to light them,

or would at least be thwarted in their initial attempts and perhaps lose

interest.

Since almost half the persons involved in the match and lighter

incidents are children under age 11, with a majority of these under age

6, educational programs may not be very effective if aimed at the

victims directly.

21
An education program directed specifically at parents of children in

these age groups might he more effective, however. These parents could

be reached through nursery and public school parent-teacher associations

and similar organizations. It should be pointed out to them that their

children constitute an extremely high risk group with regard to match

and lighter fires.

22
form NBS-U4A (l-7i) U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO. NBS TN-750

2. Gov't Accession No.

3. Recipient's Accession No.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Matches and Lighters In Flammable Fabric Incidents:

The Magnitude of the Problem

5. Publication Date December 1972

6. Performing Organization Code

7. AUTHOR(S)

James A. Slater, Benjamin Buchbinder and Henry Tovey

8. Performing Organization

10. Project/Task/Worlc Unit No. 1+900291

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

11. Contract/Grant No.

12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address

Same as Number 9

13. Type of Report & Period Covered Final

14, Sponsoring Agency Code

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant bibliography or literature survey, mention it here.) Matches and lighters were a major factor in the 1,838 flammable

fabric incidents studied for which ignition sources are known. They

accounted for 1+30, almost one-fourth, of the ignitions and led to 375

injuries, of which 57 were fatal. Children and the elderly were the

groups most frequently involved in fires started by matches or lighters.

Nearly half the incidents involved children under age 11, and two-thirds

of these were children under age 6. Forty-four of the 57 fatalities were

children under age 11 or adults over 65. The highest fatality rate, 57

percent, was experienced by persons over age 65. The home was the predominant location of fires involving matches and lighters. Of the fabric

items ignited by matches and lighters, garments were first to ignite four

times as frequently as non-apparel items such as furnishings and bedding.

Over one-third of the incidents involved intermediary materials in the

ignition sequence. Match ignitions outnumbered lighter ignitions by

6 to 1. Among the 1*30 match and lighter incidents, fires involving

children were overwhelmingly the result of playing with matches and

lighters, whereas for persons over age 16, smoking was the single most

prevalent activity at the time of ignition.

17. KEY WORDS (Alphabetical order, separated by semicolons)

Key words: Fabric fires; FFACTS; fire injuries; flammable fabrics;

ignition sources; lighters; matches.

18. AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

3UNLIMITED.

I 1 FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT RELEASE

TO NTIS.

19. SECURITY CLASS

(THIS REPORT)

UNCLASSIFIED

20. SECURITY CLASS

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UNCLASSIFIED

21. NO. OF PAGES

27

22. Price

55^

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