Safety Council Calls For Fire-Safe Cigarettes

Ottawa, May 29, 1998 - The Canada Safety Council shares the concern expressed by the Ontario Fire Marshal regarding the increase in fire deaths during the first quarter of 1998. In 1997, fire took 154 lives in Ontario; by the end of March, 51 people had already died.

Most fire deaths are preventable, says Canada Safety Council president Emile Therien. As the fire marshal states, careless smoking is one of the main causes of fatal fires. Smoker's material, mainly cigarettes, accounts for one in four fire fatalities.

Back in 1984, the US Congress enacted a Cigarette Safety Act. That legislation created a study group to study the technical and commercial feasibility, economic impact and other consequences of developing cigarettes with a minimum likelihood to ignite upholstered furniture or mattresses.

In its 1993 report to Congress, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission concluded it is practicable to develop a performance standard to reduce cigarette ignition propensity. Characteristics that make cigarettes less fire-prone include: lower paper porosity; smaller circumference; shorter filter; and lower tobacco density.

A 1995 coroner’s inquest in Toronto recommended the federal government mandate fire-safe cigarettes, referring to the US studies. Since then, the Canada Safety Council and other health and safety groups have asked the federal minister of health to make fire-safe cigarettes a priority. Health Minister Allan Rock responded that the impact of fire-safe cigarettes on the health of smokers must be evaluated, and that economic and trade impacts must be considered. He says this is expected to be a priority of the Office of Tobacco Control "over the next few years."

Lower ignition propensity cigarettes are already on the market, according to Therien. He believes that government inaction to regulate the ignition properties of all cigarettes means Canada is missing a prime opportunity to prevent fire deaths.

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