ALBANY, – One experiment Albany Firefighters conducted tested new fire safe cigarettes now mandated in Georgia. Those cigarettes are designed to go out if you stop smoking them.

Cigarettes cause fires that kill 700 people and injure 3,000 every year in the United States. 74 year old Audrey Baty died in an Albany house fire January 7th, and Investigators determined the fire was caused by a cigarette. That tragedy influenced firefighters to check out how safe these new cigarettes really are.

The fire safe cigarettes are made of the same kind of tobacco and paper, but it has rings in the paper to stop the flame if not puffed. But the fire safe standards require them to burn out 75% of the time.

Firefighters say dumping cigarette ashes and butts in trash cans is one of the most frequent causes of house fires. Firefighters set up a chair and couch in a condemned house, and placed a fire safe cigarette in the trash can with newspapers, and then other trash types.

The cigarette smoldered for a couple of minutes, and then….. “I see smoke. Yea, we got a fire already,” said a firefighter.

Within five minutes the trash can was blazing in the trash can. And 12 minutes after putting the fire safe cigarette in the trash can, the fire had set both the chair and couch next to it ablaze. In two tries, each time the fire safe cigarette started a fire.

“It appears when it gets insulated on more than two sides, it continues to burn. We pulled the paper back and it was smoldering, burning inside the paper both times,” Investigator Sam Harris said.

Firefighters say they concluded from their experiment that the fire safe cigarette is a better system, but not a fail proof system.

“Can’t trust it. Anytime you have an open flame you have a risk of a fire. That’s exactly what we found out,” Harris said.

So Firefighters urge smokers to use extreme caution, and not get overly confident in fire safe cigarettes.

“Continue to be vigilant when they are smoking. To worry about putting them out good. And to not pour the ashes into trash cans, because it can cause a fire.”

Firefighters hope their experiment findings and warnings can prevent more cigarette fire deaths.

Fire safe cigarettes are the law in Georgia now, but stores can still sell the old style cigarettes they had in stock until they are all gone. So some of those are still available. The way you can know if you have a fire safe cigarette, it’s on the package marked “FSC” if they are fire safe.

Georgia was among the last states to require the fire safe cigarettes. The law mandating them went into effect January 1st. Most tobacco companies say they support the move to fire safe cigarettes.

NEW YORK — The City of New York has accused several cigarette dealers on a Long Island Indian reservation of secretly defying a court order that was supposed to have shut them down.

The charge is the latest in a legal battle between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and smoke shops on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation over the sale of millions of dollars in untaxed cigarettes.

In August, a federal judge ordered most of the largest shops on the reservation to stop selling untaxed packs to the general public, saying such sales were illegal, despite the state’s tolerance of the practice.

Publicly, the shops promised to abide by the ruling, but in a motion filed in federal court on Wednesday, lawyers for the city said three dealers quietly continued to do business through newly formed cigarette stores not covered by the court order.

“It shows contempt for the court’s authority,” said Eric Proshansky, an attorney for the city.

The tribe’s chief, Harry Wallace, didn’t immediately return a phone and e-mail message from The Associated Press on Thursday, but told Newsday that the allegations are false.

The city has asked U.S. District Court Judge Carol Amon for thousands of dollars in penalties against the three dealers.

Lawyers for two of the dealers declined comment. Richard Levitt, a lawyer who represents dealer Wayne Harris, wouldn’t discuss his client’s case in detail but said, “the evidence will show that he is not in contempt of the court’s order.”

In August, Amon ruled that the tribal shops’ longtime practice of selling cigarettes without collecting required state taxes was illegal.

She ordered eight shops to stop selling cigarettes to anyone who wasn’t enrolled in the tribe, and barred 11 people affiliated with those stores from further sales to the general public. The three dealers were all named in that order.

The shops have appealed, but all had also publicly claimed to have ceased operations by September.

City lawyers didn’t buy it, and investigated with the assistance of agents from the state’s tax enforcement division.

The case is being watched closely because of its potential effect on other Indian reservations around the state.

Shops on tribal land now account for nearly a third of all cigarettes sold annually in New York. This booming business is a product of the state’s longtime reluctance to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on tribal land, which means reservation shops can offer tobacco at a huge discount.

Relatively few shop owners have ever been charged in criminal court over their dealings in untaxed cigarettes.

Starting in January, all cigarettes sold in Arkansas will have to have a FSC label, which stands for Fire Safe Cigarettes.
The cigarettes are part of the Arkansas Cigarette Fire Safety Standard Act of 2009, which requires that all cigarettes sold in the state must be fire safe. This means each cigarette contains two bands of less absorbent paper designed to cause the cigarette to go out by itself if left unattended.

” It’s an annoyance because two or three times I have to relight it, it’s a big deal, you don’t want it to go out half way through,” said Caleb Findley.

Others say, it’s actually tougher on your body than regular cigarettes. “They give me a headache, tastes nasty, makes my chest hurt, I don’t approve of them,” said Donald Greenhill.

So far stores like Wedington Liquor say they haven’t seen a drop in sales. “I don’t think for the most part people know about it,” said general manager, Brandon Elliott.

Manufacturers aren’t exactly promoting the cigarettes. “I didn’t even know if it were true or not, I didn’t even see any markings on the package,” said Findley.

The only difference between a new pack compared to an old pack is the initials, FSC, above the barcode. However, those three little letters could make a big difference in the state of Arkansas. According to the U.S. Fire Administrations most recent study, Arkansas had the sixth highest rate of fire deaths in the country.

“I guess if someone falls asleep with a cigarette in their hand it won’t burn the house down,” said Elliott.

All the states surrounding Arkansas have already or are in the process of enacting similar laws, and eventually every state in the country is expected to sell nothing but fire safe cigarettes.


Copyright © September 22, 2009, KFSM-TV

THIBODAUX — Starting today, self-extinguishing cigarettes are what local smokers should find in their packs.
The so-called fire-safe cigarettes, indicated by the letters “FSC,” have bands of paper several layers thick surrounding the tobacco, making it more likely to go out if it’s not actively being smoked. The goal is to prevent fires and deaths associated with lit cigarettes.

Starting today, vendors must buy and sell fire-safe cigarettes in Louisiana. Eighteen states already require the special cigarettes. Louisiana and 13 others will join the list this year.

The change has some smokers upset.

Nick Richard, 58, of Thibodaux, says he must relight his Marlboro Ultra Lights up to three times per cigarette.

“If you put it down for more than a minute it goes out,” Richard said. “It’s just a huge pain.”

Mark Tortorich, owner of the Tobacco Outlet Discount in Thibodaux, said some of his customers are unhappy at the change.

“Customers have been complaining,” Tortorich said. “Some people say it tastes different, others don’t like having to relight it. I tell customers to call their cigarette manufacturers.”

Manufacturers say the change won’t affect cigarettes’ taste or appearance.

“There are no additional chemicals,” said Frank Lester, a spokesman for tobacco company R.J. Reynolds said. “The difference is the paper bands.”

Lester and David Sutton, a spokesman for tobacco compnay Philip Morris, say smokers must still be careful.

“It’s important to point out to consumers that anything that burns, if handled carelessly, will still burn,” Sutton said. “Nothing that burns is fire safe.”

Manufacturers who sell cigarettes in violation of the new standard could be fined up to $100 per pack. Subsequent violations could result in higher fines.

Stores are allowed to sell any remaining stocks of non-fire-safe cigarettes purchased prior to today.

Chad Mire, Thibodaux’s assistant fire chief, said the new cigarettes should help reduce fires caused by unattended cigarettes.

“It’s a great thing,” Mire said. “Anything that can benefit fighting or preventing fires is a good thing.”

Richard, however, says he remains unhappy with the change, especially given the recent tax increases on his smokes.

“I’m very upset by this,” he said.


Lloyd Nelson can be reached

at 448-7639 or lloyd.nelson@dailycomet.com. Follow him on Twitter as Govreporter.

Smokers in Kansas may not realize it, but the cigarettes they’re buying now are different from what was on the shelves just two months ago. In July, fire safe cigarettes became the only kind available in the state.

Experts hope the new cigarettes will cause fewer fires because they go out much more quickly. Fire safe cigarettes have several layers of paper surrounding the tobacco making it more difficult for oxygen to feed a burning cigarette. It means if the cigarette isn’t actively being smoked, it’ll burn itself out.

Since 2006, Wichita has seen 226 cigarette-caused fires.

“We deal with people who are having their worst day ever,” says Wichita Fire Captain Stuart Bevis.

Capt. Bevis joined Eyewitness News Thursday to help compare the differences between the old and new cigarettes. He’s investigated around 2,000 fires in his time with the department.

“They’ll say nothing bad’s ever happened to them when they’ve fallen asleep with their cigarette or had too much alcohol with their cigarette,” says Capt. Bevis, “because it only takes one time. When that one time happens, it’s a tragedy.”

In our first test, we simply lit one of each type of cigarette and laid them in an ash tray. The fire safe cigarette went out in less than two minutes while the old cigarette burned all the way to the filter for 16 minutes.

“It does have a chance to be a little bit better,” Capt. Bevis says of the new cigarettes. “Two and a half minutes smoldering against 15? That gives us a much better chance of it going out before something bad happens.”

In the second test, we placed the lit cigarettes on an old recliner’s cushion. Once again, the fire safe cigarette only takes a couple of minutes to go out, leaving a small burn in the polyester fabric. The old cigarette burns to the filter, leaving a long burn mark and almost getting to the cotton fabric inside the cushion’s cover.

We use our last two tests checking what typically happens in a cigarette-caused fire, a cigarette that falls in a cushion corner or into a crevice. In these tests, both types of cigarettes burn to the filter.

In one of the tests, the fire safe cigarette chars a piece of highly-combustible lint. It likely means the recliner wasn’t far from going up in flames. Capt. Bevis says it’s a sign that just because the product is safer doesn’t mean it’s safe.

“They can have cigarettes that are supposed to put themselves out in two-and-a-half minutes, but if all the right circumstances fall into place, it can still lead to a fire if they’re dealt with carelessly,” says Capt. Bevis.

We wanted to know if you’ve ever heard of fire safe cigarettes. The results of our exclusive Fact Finder 12 scientific survey show 28% of you say you’ve heard of the new cigarettes while most, 72%, say you have not.

Not everyone likes the new cigarettes. More than 8,600 smokers nationwide have signed an online petition calling for a repeal of fire safe cigarettes. They complain the new cigarettes taste bad and have more carbon monoxide in each drag.


© Kwch

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jonathan Russell’s trusty Marlboro Lights were letting him down. They didn’t taste quite right. There was a metallic flavor.

The smokes made his throat itchy, too.

“It tasted like a cheaper brand, like a generic brand,” the 29-year-old IT specialist said. “Everything’s different about it. It’s bad.”

A convenience store clerk who had been hearing similar complaints let Russell in on what was happening:

Russell was smoking fire-safe cigarettes.

Spreading rapidly nationwide, these cigarettes are engineered to put themselves out in most cases when a smoker isn’t actively puffing on them.

The goal is to prevent the conflagrations that claim hundreds of lives each year when careless smokers let unattended cigarettes drop onto a bed or couch.

Fire safety and consumer advocates fought the tobacco industry for decades to get fire-safe cigarette legislation before Big Tobacco finally relented.

And with little hoopla, every state but Wyoming has passed laws that mandate fire-safe cigarettes.

In Kansas, fire-safe cigarettes have been the law since July 1. In Missouri, the most recent state to adopt the standard, the law takes effect in September 2010.

Fire-safe cigarettes are sold on both sides of the state line. They can be identified by the small initials “FSC” on the packs.

But as fire-safe cigarettes have spread nationwide, complaints from smokers have followed. An online petition calling for the repeal of fire-safe cigarette laws now has more than 7,400 signatures.

Smokers from across the country fill Internet sites with complaints about headaches, coughing fits, nausea and other maladies they attribute to the new cigarettes.

They point to a 2005 study from the Harvard School of Public Health that found the smoke from fire-safe cigarettes contained on average 11 percent more carbon monoxide and 14 percent more naphthalene — the ingredient in mothballs — than conventional cigarettes. The Harvard researchers consider the differences negligible, however.

Discontented smokers also claim the new cigarettes are laced with more chemical additives, most notably ethylene vinyl acetate, an adhesive used to glue cigarettes together.

“They’re horrible. I’ve been waking up with headaches, body aches, coughing like I’m hacking up a lung,” said Jamie Bartlett, 21, of Grandview, Mo. “I just thought I was getting sick until someone pointed (the fire-safe cigarettes) out to me.”

The new cigarettes have no additional ethylene vinyl acetate or other chemicals, said David Sutton, a spokesman for Philip Morris USA.

“We don’t add any other ingredients not found in traditional cigarette manufacturing,” Sutton said. “They’re just like traditional cigarettes.”

The only difference is in the design of the cigarette paper. Fire-safe cigarettes have two or three rings of thicker paper spaced out along the length of the tube. The rings make the cigarette paper less porous, so less oxygen reaches the burning tobacco.

Unless a smoker takes a drag when the cigarette reaches one of the paper rings, it’s likely to go out.

Sutton said Philip Morris has gotten comments from smokers about their cigarettes going out faster, but those calls tend to die down as smokers get used to the difference. The company hasn’t heard much about issues like increased coughing or changes in the way cigarettes taste, he said.

“I’ve smoked both types of Marlboro Lights product, and they taste the same to me,” Sutton said.

Philip Morris plans to phase out conventional cigarettes by the first half of next year. R.J. Reynolds cigarettes could all be fire-safe by the end of this year.

But it may take years before we see the full effect of the new cigarettes on fire deaths.

With people smoking less, tobacco-related fire deaths already had dropped dramatically before fire-safe cigarettes were introduced.

In 1980, about 1,980 deaths occurred in fires started by lighted tobacco products. By 2005, there were only about 800.

Since then, the death rate seems to have stabilized, said Lorraine Carli, spokeswoman for the National Fire Protection Association.

“We anticipate (fire-safe cigarettes) will create the next drop in the number of fire deaths,” she said. “We think it will have a significant effect.”

A hopeful sign comes from New York, Carli said. In 2004, it became the first state to switch to fire-safe cigarettes.

During a 12-month period in 2002 to 2003, 38 cigarette-related fire deaths were reported in New York, Carli said. During the same period in 2006-2007, there were 24 deaths.

Experts say New York’s experience made it easier for other states to adopt similar regulations.

New York laid the groundwork, developing tests and standards for the cigarettes. And cigarette companies found smokers weren’t switching brands or cutting back on consumption.

With good evidence that sales weren’t being affected, the tobacco industry shifted from fighting the laws to making sure the states adopted uniform regulations.

“They went from opposing federal legislation to opposing the state legislation, then to an interest in having the standard be the same in every state,” Carli said.

While some smokers like Russell may sense big changes in their favorite cigarettes, they’ve really been quite small, said Harvard tobacco researcher Gregory Connolly. It’s just that smokers are acutely sensitive to any changes.

“The cigarette for many people is their best friend. They know it intimately,” Connolly said. “The smoker is so cued in to the sensory stimuli that any change can drive a smoker crazy.”

Connolly led the 2005 Harvard study circulating on the Web that found higher levels of some toxins in fire-safe cigarette smoke. He said these differences were insignificant.

There’s actually more variation in toxin levels among the different cigarettes within a brand than between fire-safe and conventional cigarettes, he said.

“The cigarette is the most lethal, toxic product in the marketplace,” Connolly said. Fire-safe cigarettes, he said, are “no more or less lethal.”

After lighting up are you experiencing more headaches, stomach cramps or a coppery taste in your mouth? Does your new FSC (fire-safe cigarette) taste bad, cause dry mouth and are you coughing more?

New York State was one of the first states to require that cigarettes be made with the new fire-safe paper. This paper is constructed by gluing two or three thin bands of less-porous paper together with an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer emulsion based adhesive (carpet glue).

These papers have bands (see image) that act as speed bumps so if the cigarette is left unattended it will self-extinguish. The coalitions that passed these laws believe that these cigarettes would limit the number of cigarette fire deaths.

Though this law was passed in 2004, the number of deaths caused by fires from cigarettes hasn’t been greatly reduced, but complaints from smokers all over the U.S has multiplied.

Symptoms include:
Nausea, Sores in mouth and throat, Dry throat, constant headaches, extreme coughing, tightness in the chest, vomiting, body aches, pain in the abdomen and respiratory conditions including asthma and bronchitis.

The firesafecigarette.org website mentions a study by the Harvard School of Public Health:

“The report states, “The majority of smoke toxic compounds (14) tested were not different between New York and Massachusetts brands. Five compounds were slightly higher in New York brands. There is no evidence that these increases affect the already highly toxic nature of cigarette smoke.” The research found the majority of toxic compounds were no different between the smoke of the New York and Massachusetts brands that were tested. Five compounds were slightly higher, but no evidence exists that the small increases affect the already highly toxic nature of cigarette smoke.”

Essentially what they are saying is that since cigarettes are already toxic, let’s make them more toxic.

The real numbers from the study are:

“The Harvard School of Health reported that when comparing NY Cigarettes (FSC) versus Regular Cigarettes, the FSC cigarettes produced 13.9% more Naphthalene and 11.4% more carbon monoxide than regular cigarettes. Naphthalene is commonly found in moth balls, and exposure in high amounts can result in headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, malaise, confusion, anemia, jaundice, convulsions, and coma. Therefore, it has been proven that FSC cigarettes contain higher levels of chemicals that are harmful to smokers.”

You can identify these packs of cigarettes by the FSC above the barcode. For now, over 30 states have enacted this law and soon the entire country.

Some smokers have opted to RYO (roll your own) or MYO (make your own) by purchasing rolling tobacco, cigarettes tubes with the filter attached and inexpensive injection machines. Most of these smokers mention that after switching to rolled cigarettes the symptoms subsided after a few days.

The question is when the FSC laws will be applied to rolling papers as well.

These “speed bump” on the cigarette paper can be easily identified (darker color) if you hold the paper up to the light.

Though tobacco was used as a medicinal and ceremonial plant among many indigenous tribes around the world and maybe should have remained a plant for special occasions, devotion and healing, its present day over-use and abuse has spurned the Dark Ages for this very sacred plant.

Now, carpet glue has been added to the mix. On the plus side it has made smokers return to the more ceremonial use of tobacco. It takes time and effort and attention to roll a cigarette, even when using a special rolling machine. The Spirit of Tobacco may not have been pleased with our present day indulgence and inattention. It takes a carpet glue scare to guide us back to a more sober use.


©  Examiner

A new law will affect every single cigarette smoker in Indiana.

F-S-C. Those three letters could mean the difference between life and death. Their meaning won’t prevent lung cancer or diseases from smoking, the letters stand for “Fire Safe Cigarettes.”

Starting on Wednesday, store shelves across Indiana will be stocked with them.

The law mandates all retailers to sell only that kind of cigarette, once their current inventory of regular cigarettes runs out.

Fort Wayne Fire Chief, Pete Kelley said the fire safe cigarettes extinguish a lot quicker than others. That means cigarettes can’t be left smoldering for very long before they go out on their own.

Kelley said he hopes the new law will help prevent house fires.

“Many of our fires are caused by discarded cigarettes or somebody falling asleep smoking in a chair or a bed,” Kelley said.

Last year a smoking related cause was to blame for 22 Fort Wayne house fires. So far in 2009, 12 fires blazed as a result of cigarettes.

A small label is the only packaging difference on fire safe cigarettes. However, smokers say they notice a bigger difference through the cigarettes themselves, a change in taste.

Some people are opposed to the new law for a different reason.

“A lot of them are upset because they look at it as the government meddling into more of their affairs,” said Dave Harding, owner of Dave’s Discount Tobacco in Fort Wayne.

Fire officials hope smokers find the safer cigarettes worthwhile.

“Certainly, in our mind, far out weighs any inconvenience,” Kelly said.

The National Fire Protection Agency says cigarette-ignited fires are the leading cause of home fire deaths in the country. Twenty-four other states already have FSC laws.


© Wane

A new Indiana law taking effect July 1 will require all cigarettes sold in Indiana to burn out more quickly when left unattended in an effort to reduce the number of smoking-related fires.

The new design forces a smoker to inhale to get the flame through two strips of paper incorporated into the cigarette. If left unattended, the cigarette will go out.

Indiana State Fire Marshal Jim Greeson said the only difference the consumer should notice is they need to puff on the cigarettes more often or relight them.

“The cigarettes are made from the same blend of tobacco as regular cigarettes,” Greeson said.

But Jess Brewer of Lafayette, who recently traveled to Kentucky, where the new law was implemented in April 2008, finds the new cigarettes harder to smoke.

“Since coming back from Kentucky about a week ago, I’ve been coughing constantly and having chest pains because you have to inhale harder on the new cigarettes,” she said. “… What’s the point of making safer cigarettes if they lead to negative health effects?”

Sarah Parish, manager of Just Smokes in Lafayette, said many smoke shops in the area are already fully stocked with the so-called “fire-safe” cigarettes.

“As of June 1, all of our cigarettes were fire safe,” she said. “Customers don’t like that they go out on them, but otherwise we haven’t had many complaints.”

The fire-safe packs sell for the same price as traditional cigarettes, Parish said. The new law, passed in 2008, doesn’t apply to cigarettes that consumers roll themselves.

Indiana had 138 smoking-related fires last year, leading to four deaths, 11 injuries and $3.4 million in property damage, according to the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

Cigarette-ignited fires are the leading cause of home fire deaths in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people annually, the National Fire Protection Agency reports.

Lafayette fire prevention Chief Ron Ritchey said the new cigarettes will help prevent fires.

“There are a multitude of factors that cut down on cigarette house fires, like flame-resistant mattresses. We’re getting smarter about this problem and tackling it from all angles,” he said.

Brandon Grimes of Lafayette said he thinks the mandate will have a bigger effect on the number of smokers when compared to the number of house fires.

“If it causes too much of a hassle, it could lead to less smokers in the long run,” he said. “If it increases the overall health of people, then it could be a change for the better. It might make it easier for me to quit.”