Careless Smoking

• Careless smoking is the second leading cause of fire deaths
• Deaths due to fires caused by careless smoking are particularly preventable
• Having a working smoke alarm reduces one's chance of dying in a fire by nearly a half

Careless Smoking Life-Saving Tips

Following these simple fire safety tips can increase your survival rate dramatically:

• Close a matchbook before striking and hold it away from your body, set your cigarette lighter on low flame
• Develop and practice a fire escape plan; in case of a fire, crawl or stay low to the ground, beneath the smoke, and use the escape plan you have worked out; get out and stay out.
• Don't leave cigarettes, cigars, or pipes unattended; put out all smoking materials before you walk away
• Don't put ashtrays on the arms of sofas or chairs
• If smokers have visited, be sure to check the floor and around chair cushions for ashes that may have been dropped accidentally
• If you begin to feel drowsy while watching television or reading, extinguish your cigarette or cigar
• Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home, test smoke alarm batteries every month and change them at least once a year; consider installing a 10-year lithium battery-powered smoke alarm, which is sealed so it cannot be tampered with or opened
• Never smoke in bed, replace mattresses made prior to the 1973 Federal Mattress Flammability Standard
• Use deep ashtrays and soak ashes in water before disposal