Light a Cigarette, Not a Fire

By Dana Wachter

Published: January 2, 2009

Elizabethton, Tenn.—Just yesterday, five new states around the country joined the seventeen already mandated states, in requiring cigarette manufacturers to produce fire-safe cigarettes. This means that the cigarette is made with less porous paper, and there are thicker areas on the body. So when a lit cigarette is put down, instead of continuing to burn, it extinguishes itself.

Now, smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths across the country. This year there were 72 deaths caused by smoking starting a fire in Tennessee, alone. Legislation to enforce the mandate in Tennessee was passed last May, and it will take affect next January 1, 2010.

The Johnson City fire marshal sees the cigarettes as a step in the right direction. Some stores in the area have already begun to sell the fire-safe cigarettes. At the Lighthouse Tobacco and Mini Market in Elizabethton today, most people didn’t know what the fire-safe cigarettes are. People who buy the brands that have already switched are still buying those brands, regardless.

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