Tips to Prevent a Fire Caused by Careless Smoking
- Use large, heavy ashtrays that do not tip over.
- Don’t let ashtrays become so full that hot ashes might spill over the side.
- When outside, use a metal can partially filled with sand to discard your cigarette in.
- Douse or soak butts and ashes with water before dumping them in a wastebasket.
- Never smoke in bed or when drowsy, intoxicated, or medicated. A dropped cigarette can smolder for hours before bursting into flames.
- If there has been a party where people have been smoking and drinking, check your furniture for dropped cigarette butts.
- Keep matches and lighters up high, away from children’s reach. Ensure lighters have child-resistant safety features.
- Teach young children that lighters and matches are not toys and not to touch them.
- Teach young children they should tell a grown-up if they see an unattended cigarette burning or a lighter or match lying around.
