Press Release

Reductions in Smoking Show Promise for Reducing Home Fire Deaths

Home fire deaths are higher in states that have a greater percentage of smokers, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study published this month in the journal Injury Prevention. If smoking at home is reduced or stopped, fewer residential fire deaths may result, the study said.

Smoking is the leading cause of home fire deaths and accounts for approximately one quarter of the 3,000 home fire deaths in the United States each year. Quitting smoking, as well as following fire safety recommendations related to smoking, can help reduce the risk of cigarette-related home fire deaths. For free telephone-based counseling from anywhere in the United States, smokers can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a national number that connects people to their state-based quit line.

This study is the first to use national data to look at the percentage of current smokers and home fire deaths in the District of Columbia and all U.S. states except Hawaii. Nationally, an estimated 21 percent of adults smoked in 2004, with state averages ranging from 11 percent (Utah) to 28 percent (Kentucky). In that year, an estimated 2,804 individuals died in home fires, or nearly one death per 100,000 people in the United States.

"Our study suggests that even modest reductions in overall smoking rates may save lives. In fact, quitting smoking is the most important step smokers can take to improve their overall health and that of their loved ones. People who do smoke should smoke outside the house to help protect themselves and their families from home fires and exposure to secondhand smoke, a known human carcinogen," said Shane Diekman, Ph.D., M.P.H., a behavioral scientist at CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

People who continue to smoke can reduce the risk of indoor fires by adopting strict smoke-free home rules; using deep, sturdy ashtrays securely set on tables; dousing cigarette and cigar butts in water or extinguishing with sand before dumping in the trash; and never smoking in bed or leaving burning cigarettes unattended. And everyone can reduce their risk of being harmed in a residential fire by making sure to have a working smoke alarm at home and testing that alarm regularly to make sure it is working.

"Home fire deaths have declined during the past several decades, and this decline has paralleled reductions in smoking," said Ileana Arias, Ph.D., director of CDC's Injury Center. "We work hard to keep our homes safe, and it just makes good sense to help people understand that if they can change their smoking habits, we may continue to reduce these tragedies."

The study used CDC's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data.

For more information about CDC's injury prevention efforts, please link to http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/fire.htm. For a copy of this study, please link to Injury Prevention's website at: http://press.psprings.co.uk/ip/august/228_ip17004.pdf

State-level Smoking and Residential Fire Death Rates – 2004 – CDC

State	Deaths	Population	Crude Rate	% Smoking
Alabama	76	4501862	1.68	24.9
Alaska	8	648510	1.22	24.8
Arizona	24	5577784	0.42	18.5
Arkansas	61	2726166	2.22	25.6
California	187	35456602	0.52	14.8
Colorado	15	4548071	0.33	20
Connecticut	26	3485881	0.74	18.1
Delaware	10	817827	1.2	24.4
District of Columbia	11	557846	1.98	20.9
Florida	123	16993369	0.71	20.2
Georgia	132	8746849	1.48	20
Idaho	11	1368111	0.79	17.4
Illinois	121	12649940	0.95	22.2
Indiana	92	6196269	1.48	24.9
Iowa	28	2941362	0.95	20.8
Kansas	28	2724224	1.02	19.8
Kentucky	59	4116780	1.42	27.5
Louisiana	89	4490380	1.97	23.5
Maine	6	1308245	0.46	21
Maryland	62	5512477	1.11	19.5
Massachusetts	30	6417565	0.47	18.5
Michigan	112	10078146	1.11	23.3
Minnesota	21	5061662	0.41	20.7
Mississippi	79	2880793	2.72	24.5
Missouri	87	5718717	1.51	24.1
Montana	11	917885	1.19	20.4
Nebraska	14	1738013	0.8	20.3
Nevada	10	2241700	0.43	23.2
New Hampshire	11	1287594	0.85	21.7
New Jersey	45	8640028	0.52	18.8
New Mexico	23	1879252	1.21	20.3
New York	139	19228031	0.72	19.9
North Carolina	108	8422375	1.26	23.1
North Dakota	5	633051	0.79	19.9
Ohio	97	11431748	0.85	25.9
Oklahoma	59	3504917	1.67	26.1
Oregon	32	3562681	0.89	20
Pennsylvania	145	12364930	1.17	22.7
Rhode Island	4	1075729	0.37	21.3
South Carolina	88	4146753	2.1	24.3
South Dakota	13	764599	1.69	20.3
Tennessee	88	5841585	1.49	26.2
Texas	176	22099136	0.78	20.5
Utah	10	2378696	0.41	10.5
Vermont	0	619092	0	20
Virginia	109	7383387	1.46	20.8
Washington	41	6131131	0.66	19.2
West Virginia	29	1810347	1.6	26.9
Wisconsin	48	5471792	0.87	21.9
Wyoming	1	501915	0.2	21.7
Total	2804	293656842	0.96	20.9

###
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES