FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2000
Release # 01-026
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052
Child-Resistant Lighters Bring Down Fire Deaths
CPSC report shows 43% decline in deaths from lighter fires
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal safety standard requiring cigarette
lighters to be child-resistant has led to dramatic decreases in fires,
deaths and injuries, according to a report issued today by the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The new report shows that fire deaths associated with children playing
with lighters dropped 43 percent since the CPSC required cigarette
lighters to be child-resistant starting in 1994. Deaths related to
children playing with lighters fell from 230 in 1994 to 130 in 1998.
Children under age 5 accounted for 170 of the deaths in 1994 and 40 of
the deaths in 1998.
Overall, fires related to lighters dropped by 45 percent between
1994 and 1998. In 1994, there were 11,100 residential fires associated
with children playing with lighters. By 1998, that number declined to
6,100 fires. By comparison, residential structure fires due to other
causes decreased by 15 percent in that period.
Injuries related to lighter fires also declined. Injuries dropped 49
percent, from 1,600 in 1994 to 810 in 1998.
The study estimates that 4,800 fires, 130 deaths, 950 injuries and $76.4
million in property damage were prevented because of the cigarette
lighter safety standard in 1998 alone.
The cigarette lighter safety standard requires disposable and novelty
lighters to have a child-resistant mechanism that makes lighters
difficult for children younger than age 5 to operate. At the time the
standard was developed, it was estimated that children younger than age
5 ignited 73 percent of all residential structure fires started by
children playing with cigarette lighters.
"Children try to copy their parents, so a cigarette lighter becomes a
tempting plaything," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "Cigarette lighters
today are safer because they are less likely to cause a fire if they
fall into the wrong hands."
Despite the good news, fires caused by children playing with lighters
remain a concern. It is expected that the new CPSC standard requiring
child-resistant mechanisms on household multi-purpose lighters, which
will become effective in December 2000, will help reduce fires and fire
deaths even further.