Parents who smoke should think about quitting, not just for their own sake, but for the health of their children. In addition to the dangers of ETS, smoking around children can also pose fire and burn dangers. Children can get burned if they play with lit cigarettes, cigars, or with lighters or matches. Never leave a lit cigarette, cigar, or pipe unattended. Keep matches and lighters out of your child's reach.
Cigarette lighters are especially dangerous.
Cigarette lighters can be found in almost 30 million homes in the United States. Each year children under 5 years old playing with lighters cause more than 5,000 home fires resulting in about 150 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. This new rule will prevent hundreds of deaths and fire-related injuries to children each year. But remember, lighters can be made child-resistant, not childproof. It is still very important to keep lighters and matches away from children.