Islington firefighters have urged residents to switch to vaping or give up smoking altogether to avoid the risk of house fires, which have killed eight people in London over the past 12 months. Smoking is still a leading cause of fatal fires, according to data released by the London Fire Brigade for national ‘No Smoking Day’.
At a London Fire Brigade event on Wednesday, held at the Upper Street station, officers also offered advice on fireproofing houses. They suggested fitting fire alarms and getting fire resistant mattresses.
Speaking at the event, Breathe, a council-backed organisation, called on people to quit smoking.
Simon Lambert, a firefighter at the station, has attended several fires caused by smoking. One incident involved an elderly woman who had to go to hospital.
“She had a major fire after falling asleep with a cigarette lit,” Mr Lambert said.
“The sofa caught fire, the curtains, half her room in fact.”
“We’d actually fitted a smoke alarm for her six weeks earlier as well, and had a frank discussion with her about fire safety. She seemed to be listening.”
Meghna Vithleni, director of Breathe, encouraged more people to kick the habit and download an app, ‘Quit with Bella’. “We need to get out there as the whole demographic [of smokers] is changing,” Ms Vithleni said.
“Smokers now tend to be Turkish, Cypriot and Bangladeshi.”
By lunchtime, 12 residents had gathered to ask about fire safety, according to the officers.
Councillor Janet Burgess MBE, Islington’s executive member for Health & Social Care & Deputy Leader of the Council also attended.
In the last five years, there have been 22 fires every week on average linked to smoking, and 76 people have died as a result.
Dan Daly, the Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety said: “So many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented either stopping smoking or by switching to vaping.
“Common causes of smoking related fires are people falling asleep while smoking or discarding cigarette butts or matches that have not been properly extinguished.”
Islington fire service attends around 2,000 incidents a year.
Quit smoking to avoid deadly house fires
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Islington firefighters, councillors and health professionals gather for national No Smoking Day at the Upper Street fire station.
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