fire deaths

the bottom line

Smoking causes only a small proportion of all fires -- about 6%. However, it is the leading cause of deaths in fires, accounting for about 25% of all fire deaths in the United States. (1) Smoking-related fires tend to be deadlier than other fires because they typically occur in people's homes, at night, when everyone is asleep. They usually start either when a person falls asleep while smoking in bed or when a lighted cigarette is dropped on upholstered furniture, where it slowly smolders for hours before starting a fire. There are about 140,000 smoking-related fires in the U.S. each year. These fires kill about 900 people and injure more than 2,000 others. (2)

Sources
1. U.S. Fire Administration. A Profile of Fire in the United States, 1989-1998. 2000. Available online at: www.usfa.fema.gov
2. National Fire Protection Association. Smoking Material-Related Fires. Fact sheet issued April 2002. Available online at: www.nfpa.org