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Smoking time bomb
Cigarettes cause a third of house fire fatalities’ is the stark fact Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service want people to remember on National No Smoking Day on March 9 2011. Careless disposal of cigarettes is the single biggest killer in house fires across the country. Habits such as smoking whilst drinking alcohol in the home or lighting up in bed are responsible for one in three (36%) of all accidental house fires resulting in deaths in England, and in Greater Manchester caused 123 fires in 2009/10 resulting in 6 deaths and 51 injuries. Sheila Pendlesbury from Wigan sadly lost her grandson Shaun in house fire triggered by a cigarette. She said: “Shaun was only 27 years old when he died. He had a daughter and a bright future ahead of him. His loss is something we as a family will have to live with. But it hurts enormously to know something as basic as a working smoking alarm could have alerted him to the fire and possibly saved his life.” For smokers not ready to kick the habit this No Smoking Day, it is important to follow these simple precautions to prevent a fire at home: Put it out, right out! Make sure your cigarette is fully extinguished Fit a smoke alarm and test it weekly. A working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999 Never smoke in bed. Take care when you’re tired. It’s very easy to fall asleep while your cigarette is still burning and set furniture alight Avoid drugs and alcohol when smoking. It’s easy to lose your concentration when using any sort of drugs or drinking alcohol, combined with cigarettes and this could be lethal Never leave lit cigarettes, cigars or pipes unattended - they can easily overbalance as they burn down Use a proper, heavy ashtray that can’t tip over easily and is made of a material that won’t burn If you would to arrange a free home fire risk assessment for yourself, on behalf of a member of your family or a friend please contact us by calling us free on 0800 555 815 or visit www.manchesterfire.gov.uk Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
