The Causes of Fire Attributed to Smoking - Essay Example

The Causes of Fire Attributed to Smoking Smoking is an age-old practice which has been on the increase for centuries. Apart from being a health hazard, its prevalence has caused fire break-outs in many a scenario leaving behind a trail of misery and devastation. This has been so alarming especially where the fires are caused by smokers in situations that are inappropriate. This has caused investigations to be launched as to the propensity of prevalence in smoking to cause fires. These fires have been observed to cause deaths of high scales and lots of casualties. Besides, property of great value has been lost through fires. It is therefore behooves any student with interest in their lives and property to discuss with a lot of attention the causes of fires in situations that are inappropriate with regard to smoking. Cigarettes are made up of tobacco. Tobacco contains many elements but the main one is nicotine which is not found in other herbs. For combustion of the cigarette to occur, there must be oxygen and heat. The burning of cigarette is incomplete and the temperatures during puffs and between puffs are 900 degrees Celsius and 400 degrees Celsius respectively. As the cigarette burns it produces a supersaturated substance called aerosol. After smoking, small ends called fags remain which should be extinguished. If left un-extinguished and are dropped on flammable materials then they can start a fire and the fire may spread. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards ensure that people observe minimum safety standards when they deal with any activity is likely to cause fire. These standards include the designing products and buildings that are safe from fire and enhancing safety performance in a structure among many others. Cigarette smoke has hundreds of chemicals that are lethal themselves without mentioning the fire that comes with cigarette smoking. Due to this, various investigation procedures have been advanced in order to prevent any likely damage. They include employee interviews in working environment where they are asked questions whether there are some of the employees that smoke, walk-around investigation where the researcher goes to an area and takes a walk to assess whether there is smoking going on and the extent of smoke damage and environmental investigation where the researcher uses such methods as OSHA which is found in the OSHA Analytical Procedure manual. Reports are then compiled and recommendations are made in order to improve the conditions. The NFPA Standards are mostly used as benchmarks. The National Coroners Information System (NCIS) report by Mark Hoy and Stephen Morton of Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine, October 2006 and another by John R. Hall, Jr. July 2013 on the Smoking Material Fire Problem, among the causes of fire attributed to smoking in inappropriate situations are bedding materials, smoking while under the influence of alcohol, medical condition of the smoker, condition of ashtrays and disposition of the smoker. Other materials that can cause fires are upholstered furniture. When smokers throw burning fags to upholstered furniture, they can cause a fire that ignites slowly. If this incident happens at night the fire might take long to build on and explode into a large mass of fire that can devour the inhabitants of houses as they dream in their sleep. These two reports give insight as to the major causes though there are minor others that may not escape the scrutiny of the writers eyes and the sharpness of the pen, so to say. However, the ones given plus extra ones by other scholars will suffice the discussion. Bedding materials, for example, mattresses, bed-sheets and pillows are some of the catalysts of fire outbreaks in un-seeming situations. The NCIS report delineates that some smokers who are used to smoking in bed drop fire from the cigarettes unknowingly and before they know it, the fire burns and spreads at an alarming alacrity leading to untold damages, even death. This is because the bedding materials easily catch fire and also have a multiplier effect where they extend the fire to curtains and other adjacent materials thus making it a cause of fire in inappropriate situations given that the cause thereof is least expected. Drug addiction reinforces fire out-breaks in that the addict may cause contact of the cigarette with other materials that can be the beginning of fire spreading. As it has been found in the reports there above, a person who is under the influence of drugs is likely to be careless with their lives. They normally throw cigar butts with less regard to the probable harm they might suffer as a consequence. Therefore, many fires have been attributed to smokers who are addicts. Therefore as the prevalence of smokers who are addicts increases, the incidents of fires occurring mount. People who smoke under the influence of alcohol are also the cause of fires. These people normally smoke when they are in bed and sometimes they doze off with cigarettes still burning in their mouths. Unawares, they cause the materials they sleep on to catch fire thus initiating infernos of astronomical ramifications. A big percentage is caused by smokers who get drunk very regularly and that when they are drunk they lose control thus making it easy to cause fire with their cigarettes. The NCIS report particularly points out one of the causes of fire in inappropriate situations as the medical condition of the smoker. The survey done indicates that the unusual rise in the fires caused by smokers is attributed to a large extent by smokers who suffer from such diseases as epilepsy. These people are arrested by complications that set them into uncontrollable fits while smoking. The pieces of cigarettes with fire may fall to areas where the fire can easily spread and develop into a disaster. The report further states that the magnitude of disasters is aggravated when these incidences happen near substances that are inflammable. Again, people who have amnesia have a problem remembering things. For, example, a person may forget to put off their cigarettes after smoking. The un-extinguished cigarettes can smolder slowly till it joins other materials in the way which can ignite and lead to an even larger fire to the chagrin of the smoker. The smoker may be consumed by their own cigarette fire and have their houses and other property of phenomenal value razed beyond recognition. The condition of disposal bins, for example, ash-trays can explain the sudden rise in unexpected fire incidents. If the disposal bins for cigar butts are not in good condition the result is that they may cause a fire to break out. Therefore, bad conditions of ash trays contribute to the many fires being experienced in the world over. Broken ash trays are notorious for causing fire disasters as the fire may leak out from them thus starting off fires which may result in damage. The NCIS report recommends that disposal materials must be well placed and properly placed in order to enhance ease of disposal of cigarettes remains. For, instance, ash-trays should not be broken. So, regular checking on their condition should be done to avoid a situation where cigar butts with fire thrown into them escaping and cause fire unexpectedly. The fire outbreaks that occur now and again could not have been so if not for the bad disposition of smokers themselves. A good number of smokers have a habit of carelessness. They dispose of burning cigarettes without even a thought of the great harm they might cause to them and the society at large. The NCIS report acknowledges the fact that this careless disposition on part of the smokers has been and continues to be one of the sure reasons for the ubiquitous fires that bring down magnificent mansions, extinguish many lives of people and cause loss of property worth billions of dollars. Recommendations on what should be done to curb carelessness are advanced to contain fires caused by the demons of carelessness. Sometimes the gadgets used to detect cigarette fire at initial stages before it spreads contribute to the already many incidences of fire. Fire alarms are known to respond slowly when a fire breaks. So, by the time they sound to alert people around a given scene, the fire might have already caused a great damage or gone out of control. As the saying goes: ‘Ignorance is no defense’ many of the cigarette smokers are not aware of the potential danger cigarette smoking can land them into. Inadequate knowledge to handle the butts and the resultant ashes that might contain fire is also a reason for the escalating fire accidents. The problem is bound to haunt until they are educated on the safe methods of handling the cigarettes. Smoke fire in public areas can be prevented through many ways. Firstly, smokers should ensure that butts and ashes are completely extinguished before they are disposed in trays. Many a smoker cause fires because they dispose of the butts and ashes carelessly. Some do not even throw them anywhere after they are through with smoking. Therefore, smokers should take it upon themselves to put the cigarette remains into the right place so as to avoid any likelihood of fire outbreak. Secondly, smokers should always be alert, for example, they should not smoke after using medicine that induces sleep. Depressants are known to cause people to sleep. Smokers should at all times remember not to smoke after taking these drugs as they may lure them to sleep while smoking and in the process cause a fire unknowingly. Again, smokers should avoid alcohol when smoking. Alcohol affects the brain which is a vital organ of the body. A person who smokes when they are very drunk has high chances of causing a fire. For, example, a passenger in a public vehicle under the influence of alcohol may let fiery ash from the cigarette drop on their clothes. The ashes may cause fire which may spread to the other passengers and the whole vehicle could be set on fire. Thirdly, medical oxygen should be avoided during smoking at all costs as it can explode if a cigarette is smoked near it. Oxygen has a very high affinity for heat. Anyone who tries to smoke at the full glare of an oxygen gas cylinder seals their own death. Smokers should not deceive themselves even if the cylinders are empty because there could be a trace of oxygen still existing in the cylinders that might cause a disastrous ire outbreak in the presence of cigarette heat. There are places that are no smoking zones. These public places bear such signs as ‘no smoking here’. Smokers should learn to read the signs and follow what they require because they may cause greater danger than expected. Over and above, anyone who is found smoking in these areas where the act is prohibited should face the full force of the law. This may include charging them heavy penalties or serving them with appropriate jail terms. In a nutshell, though there are many causes that lead to cigarette smoking resulting into a fire, appropriate procedures can be followed to detect cigarette smoke fire before it can spread. Notable among them are the OSHA procedures. Besides, observing the NFPA standards by smokers can greatly reduce fires experienced today because failure to observe the standards is a major cause of cigarette smoke fires. It is upon the smokers to observe safety measures and minimize the risk of cigarette fire incidences or ignore and face the full penalty by increasing the chances of occurrence of the fires. References The Smoking Material Fire Problem (John R. Hall, Jr. July 2013). National Coroners Information System Report; Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine (Marde Hoy and Stephen Morton, 2006) Smoking Related Fires and the Impact of the Fire Standard Compliant Legislation in the States, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Christopher Adam, 2014) R.R., ‘Smoke Chemistry’ in Tobacco: production, chemistry and technology. pp 398-439, Davis, D.L. and Nielsen, M.T. (eds).Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford.1999. S.L. Baum, I.G.M. Anderson, R.R. Baker, D.M. Murphy, C.C. Rowlands, Analytica Chim. Acta, 2003,481,1. Rostami, A.A., Murthy, J., Hajaligol, M.(2003). Modelling of smouldering cigarette. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis. 66(1): 281-301. Eistenberg, F. Elliot. 2005. Fire Deaths in the United States: How Best to Keep Reducing Them. Fire Protection Engineering. Number 25:6-15 www.sfpe.org Read More