Store them up high, out of children's reach, preferably in a locked cabinet. Teach very young children that if they see matches or lighters they should not touch them, but should tell an adult about them and where they are. School-age children, on the other hand, should be taught to bring matches or lighters to an adult so they can be removed from younger children. Smoking Every year, careless smoking starts about 35,000 home fires. Those fires cause more than 1,200 deaths and lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in property loss.
Cigarettes can smolder under the cushions of a chair or sofa for several hours before igniting.
That's long enough for the whole family to fall asleep before the fire shows itself. Before leaving a room where people have been smoking, check in and around furniture for hot embers, ashes, butts and matches. To reduce the risk of cigarettes starting a fire, have plenty of large, deep ashtrays on hand and empty them often. Fill them with water before dumping cigarette butts into wastebaskets. A lit cigarette left in an ashtray is a fire hazard.