Dialogue: Where there's smokes there's too often fire

On far too many occasions, firefighters turn up at the scene of a house fire to find that someone, often a child, has perished in a blaze started by a smouldering cigarette.

As a former firefighter I saw such tragic scenes. Fire Service members never forget these events, nor the devastating impact that fatal fires have on the victim's loved ones.

Too many New Zealanders die every year in fires started by the careless disposal of cigarettes. Many of the victims are innocent children, their lives snuffed out by an adult's cigarette.

Fire Service statistics show that an average of 20 people each year are killed or injured in fires caused by cigarettes. Cigarettes ignite over 20 per cent of all fires causing deaths. About 600 fires a year are started by cigarettes. Treating injuries caused by these cigarette-related fires is estimated to cost $65 million a year.

It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which a smoker, lying on the sofa watching television, nods off. Cigarettes are made not to go out until they are totally consumed, so the cigarette continues to burn. It burns through the cover of a seat cushion and starts a fire which smoulders for hours.

This hidden fire produces toxic gases which render the sleeping victim unconscious. At this point the superheated air in the room reaches flashover and other people in the house are seriously threatened. Those who survive such fires often suffer lung and throat damage in addition to injuries from burns.

Smokers in this scenario - or those who fall asleep in bed with a cigarette still burning - are likely to be elderly. They may have some disability and, therefore, have limited mobility. Alcohol and sedative medication make these vulnerable smokers more likely to sleep with a cigarette still burning.

These fires, though common, are not inevitable. Cigarettes made to safeguard against them are being produced overseas. I hope to introduce a private member's bill to bring such "fire-safe" cigarettes to New Zealand. I want this country to be a world leader in the area of fire prevention.

When I entered Parliament, I knew that law changes in the area of fire safety could save lives. As an MP, I have continued the fight to try to save lives, first with my Childproof Cigarette Lighter Bill in 1998 and now with the Cigarettes (Fire Safety) Bill.

Fire Service figures indicate that the ban on non-child-resistant disposable lighters has resulted in a dramatic fall in the number of fires, deaths and injuries caused by lighters. My latest bill will also minimise the danger that smouldering cigarettes cause and I'm confident it will save lives.

Firefighters would welcome any measure that reduces the number of callouts to heartbreaking emergencies. It's not just smokers and their families who would be protected by a fire safety standard for cigarettes. Firefighters would also be in less danger from these senseless fires.

So how do fire-safe cigarettes work? Studies in the United States, which found it was possible to produce a cigarette that started fewer fires, led to the 1990 Cigarette Act. This called for the development of a test standard for cigarette fire safety.

There are several ways to produce fire-safe cigarettes. We just have to find the best for New Zealand. In the US, major cigarette maker Philip Morris is having papers made for one of its brands with "speed bumps" along them. These small pieces of extra paper along the length of the cigarette slow the burning rate and lower the heat generated, thereby reducing the risk of fires from dropped or carelessly discarded cigarettes. The bumps do not alter the taste or feel of the cigarette and are almost impossible for the consumer to detect.

One of the spurs for change in the US is the lethal injury profile of cigarette fires. In fires attributed to dropped cigarettes, there is one death to every four injuries.

Deaths in New Zealand from burning cigarettes are preventable. We just need to take some obvious and sensible action.

The introduction of a fire safety standard, as outlined in my bill, has another advantage: the immediacy of change. Cigarette manufacturing is highly standardised and concentrated in a few major companies, and the shelf life of cigarettes is only a few months.

Any change in the way cigarettes are made would affect the entire product supply almost immediately and would not rely on smokers changing their behaviour.

I have had a lot of positive feedback to the bill from individuals, community groups and firefighters. I am extremely heartened by the best wishes from Ash (Action on Smoking and Health).

The bill is due to have its first reading in Parliament today. I am confident that it will be referred to the Government administration select committee to hear public submissions.

The cost to this country of cigarette fires is too great. There is the economic cost of healthcare, damage to property and loss of productivity. Less measurable but even more devastating is the human cost of pain and suffering.

* Grant Gillon is the Alliance's emergency services spokesman.