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Shropshire | Elderly man dies in bungalow fire 

An elderly man who died in a bungalow fire may have been smoking late at night, the fire service has said.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in Yeaton, near Baschurch in Shropshire, about 2300 GMT on Friday.

A neighbour broke into the property and tried to rescue the victim but was beaten back by thick smoke and severe heat, a fire service spokesman said.

He added the cause of the fire was being investigated but was thought to have been caused by smoking materials.

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EDITORIAL: Smoke-free benefits proved 

There is now tangible evidence to back up claims that secondhand smoke adversely affects nonsmokers, particularly the secondhand smoke that is increasingly being outlawed in public places in communities across the country. . . .

In addition to long-term health effects, smoking increases the danger of fire. Most states, including Maryland, now require that all cigarettes sold in-state be "fire-safe." . . .

Delaware's newly enacted law took effect Jan. 1., which is good for Maryland because residents who travel across the state line to avoid sales tax on their cigarettes will now be buying the same safer product that's sold in-state. . . .

The combination of making cigarettes less likely to ignite an accidental fire and less acceptable -- even banned --in more public venues should reduce the number of untimely deaths attributed to the smoking habit. More importantly, it should greatly reduce the number of smoking-related deaths among nonsmokers.

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Smokers lit up about new state law 

WACO - Texas now requires retailers to sell only fire-safe cigarettes once their old inventory is sold out.

Firefighters say these smokes are life savers, but smokers we talked to say they don't care.

Convenience stores and smoke shops tell News Channel 25 they have already stocked the shelves with the fire-safe cigarettes. Those are the ones that are labeled FSC above the bar code. But stores said that for customers who don't know about the new law, they're in for a real disappointment.

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Where There's Smoke There Doesn't Have To Be Fire  

Fires started by unattended or discarded cigarettes may become a thing of the past with the implementation of legislation requiring fire safe cigarettes.

Signed into law in June 2007 the new slow-burning and fire safe cigarette legislation went into effect Thursday across the state in hopes of cutting down the number of fires started by cigarettes.

According to the National Fire Protective Association, cigarettes are a leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people - smokers and nonsmokers alike - per year

"Research in the mid-1980s predicted that fire-safe cigarettes would eliminate three out of four cigarette fire deaths. If cigarette manufacturers had begun producing only fire-safe cigarettes then, an estimated 17,000 lives could have been saved by now. Property losses from smoking-material fires total hundreds of millions of dollars each year," states information on the NFPA's Web site.

Smith County Fire Marshal Jim Seaton said he hoped the cigarettes would work, because many times drivers throw them out of their car window and start a wildfire

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SD Residents Intrigued By Fire-Safe Cigarette Laws  

Iowa joins 35 other states which have either passed or implemented similar laws, including Minnesota. Yet South Dakota is one of a handful of states still without a fire-safe cigarette law. But local smokers say they think legislation isn't far away.

Fire-safe cigarette laws have been passed across the country since 2003. The cigarettes are designed to go out after a couple of minutes if they're set aside, made with the goal of keeping smokers safe.

"I think it would be a good thing because there would be less fires," said Larry Haas of Sioux Falls. "There would probably be people like me who fall asleep with a cigarette in their hands. It would fall out into a chair or into a couch and start a fire."

Haas says fire-safe cigarette legislation in South Dakota could not only keep people safe, but could also keep them from smoking altogether.

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Careless smoking cited in fatal fires  

Two fatal fires over the weekend have been blamed on careless smoking, fire officials said Monday.

A man who died in a Norwood fire Saturday night was identified as Robert Lagrange, 56. He died at University Hospital after he was pulled from his two-story home in the 2500 block of Moundview Drive around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. . . .

Robert Hawkins, 51, died of smoke inhalation, according to the Warren County Coroner's Office.

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Smoking Down In Iowa, Tobacco Sales Up In Nebraska 

Governor Chet Culver's resolution is to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation, and the habit he wants Iowan's to kick is smoking. Recent studies show it may already be happening.

Governor Culver recently announced that smoking in Iowa is down 22 percent since 2006 - one of the most significant drops in any state in recent years. But some Iowa smokers are saying his anti-smoking legislation is hurting business and not convincing them to quit.

For most Iowans, getting a nicotine fix is not a part of their everyday life. But for some it's a hard habit to kick, and for one Iowa business its hard to believe that less people are smoking.

Cashier Traci Heath says tobacco sales at the Select Mart on Gordon Drive in Sioux City have been fairly steady since it opened in 2006.

"Since 2006 I haven't seen a decline at all," said Heath. "The only thing I've seen a decline on is with the new FCS law, that's the only decline I've seen."

The Select Mart on Gordon Drive has seen some of their business go across the river to Nebraska thanks to high state taxes and the new fire-safe cigarettes that Iowa stores are required to sell.

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New State Law Might have Smokers Smoldering 

A state law went into effect yesterday that requires retailers to purchase cigarettes that might go out while you're smoking.

Customers can buy just about anything at Young's Tobacco shop, but it's one small thing that's burning up some.

"The cigarette sold to the retailer has to be under fire safety compliance code, which means it's burn free, or slow burning paper," says Kenneth Young, the owner of Young's Tobacco.

Kenneth Young says the slower burning paper has made some smokers smolder. They believe the new cigarettes, the ones that are fire safety compliant, have left them with a bad taste.

"No taste difference, it may be bad for some customers that are slow smokers and it goes out while it's in their hand," says Young.

Sharon Gambrell's been smoking since she was 15, for her the change almost went unnoticed.

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Shropshire | Elderly man dies in bungalow fire 

An elderly man who died in a bungalow fire may have been smoking late at night, the fire service has said.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in Yeaton, near Baschurch in Shropshire, about 2300 GMT on Friday.

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Fire-safe cigarettes law now in effect, fire officials say  

El Paso fire officials are reminding the public about a new law requiring that only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in Texas.

The new law went into effect Thursday. Lt. Mario Hernandez, spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department, said distributors and retailers have until Jan. 1, 2010, to sell off their old inventory.

Hernandez said cigarrette-ignited fires are the leading cause of residential fire deaths, and fire-safe cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish if dropped or left unattended. Hernandez said of the three fire fatalities in El Paso County in 2007, two were caused by smoker's carelessness.

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Slow Burning Cigarettes Will Soon be the Law in Texas 

El Paso fire officials say just last year two out of three fire deaths were caused by careless smokers. Now a new state law could keep things safer in the lone star state. The state law requires distributors and retailers to start selling the fire-safe cigarettes. It went into effect yesterday but there are plenty of smokers and even retailers who had no idea. Saul Johnson sells cigarettes everyday but didn't realize the old fast burning cigarettes will soon be illegal in Texas.

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2009 Brought in a New Law on Cigarette Smoking in Texas 

A proposed statewide smoking ban has been the focus of a lot of attention in Texas, but another smoking law has gone into effect. As of yesterday, all cigarettes being shipped into Texas, must be in compliance with the new fire safe manufacturing process.

According to Jerry Haggins, the spokesperson for the Texas Department of Insurance,which oversees the State Fire Marshall's Office, says, "Retailers have one year to sell their old stack and starting this time next year the state fire marshall's office will begin enforcing the law by inspecting retail establishments to make sure they're selling the right cigarettes."

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St. Paul records lowest fire death rate in over 20 years 

The city of St. Paul says there was only one fire death recorded in 2008, the lowest rate in 22 years.

The fatality occurred on Aug. 10 when an 86-year-old woman died after smoking in bed.

City officials said that while even one fatality is too many, it is the lowest number of fire deaths in St. Paul since 1986.

"The widespread use and maintenance of smoke detectors has helped a lot . . .

Careless smoking is the lead cause of fatal fires in Minnesota. To address that serious problem, state legislature enacted a law requiring that all cigarettes sold in Minnesota be 'fire standard compliant.'

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EDITORIAL: Congress should make the fire-safe cigarettes mandatory in all states 

Few people realize just how long the effort to put fire-safe cigarettes on the market has been going on. Federal legislation was first proposed in 1974 and has been fought tooth and nail ever since by the tobacco industry. During that time, thousands died from fires started by dropped or misplaced cigarettes.

When supporters of fire-safe cigarettes realized the heavy lobbying effort was thwarting federal legislation, they started going to the states for relief. New York enacted the first state law in 2004, 30 years after the first attempt in Congress.

Delaware's new law went into effect Jan. 1, although Phillip Morris USA started shipping the new cigarettes -- marked on the side as FSC -- last summer. . . .

For those who insist on continuing their smoking habits, at least now their cigarettes are a bit more safe in Delaware, and that's a good thing.

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Cigarette law aims at smokes before fires 

The family is among the thousands of households displaced every year in United States as a result of fires that were ignited from smoking materials.

A new state law that went into effect Thursday requires cigarette wholesalers to sell only "fire-safe" cigarettes, which are wrapped in paper that stops the cigarette from burning if it is left unattended.

The law is part of a national campaign to get fire-safe cigarette laws enacted across the nation.

An estimated 780 deaths, 1,600 injuries and $606 million in property damage resulted from fires ignited by smoking materials in 2006, according to a report released by the National Fire Protection Association in November.

The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes' Web site, tulsaworld.com/firesafecigs, says 39 states have passed legislation to require the safer cigarettes.

Fire Capt. Michael Baker said carelessly discarded cigarettes are a common cause of fires in Tulsa, and the new cigarettes should help prevent Oklahoma firefighters from having to battle so many accidental fires.

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