STATE of MAINE 129Th LEGISLATURE FIRST REGULAR SESSION
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STATE OF MAINE th 129 LEGISLATURE FIRST REGULAR SESSION REPORT OF THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MAINE’S REDUCED IGNITION PROPENSITY CIGARETTE ACT Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety April 2021 MEMBERS: SEN. Susan Deschambault, Chair SEN. Scott Cyrway SEN. Mark Lawrence Staff: REP. Charlotte Warren, Chair Jane Orbeton, OPLA Analyst Rep. Grayson Lookner Suzanne Voynik-OPFR Analyst Rep. Victorian Morales Lauren Metayer, OFPR Analyst Rep. Daniel Newman Deborah Fahy, Committee Clerk Rep. Danny Costain Rep. Lois Reckitt Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety Rep. Richard Pickett c/o Legislative Information Rep. Bill Pluecker 100 State House Station Rep. Lois Reckitt Augusta, Maine 04333 Rep. Braden Sharpe Prepared by Richard E. Taylor, Senior Planning and Research Analyst Office of the Maine State Fire Marshal Table of Contents Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………. 3 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarettes…………………………………………….. 4 Statistics on Smoking Related Fires and Deaths in Maine……………………… 4 - 8 Consumption ….……………………………………………………………………… 11 Implementation Efforts ……………………………………………………………. 12 Findings ………………………………………………………………………. 13 Summary and Recommendations…………………………………………………… 14 Appendix A: Chapter 253, An Act Concerning Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarettes 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Smoking has been the leading cause of fire deaths in Maine and across the nation for three decades and perhaps more. It is not however, a leading cause of fire in Maine. The rate of fire deaths due to smoking are higher than any other cause including cooking, heating, electrical, and arson fires primarily due to the proximity of the victim to the heat source (cigarette) and material first ignited (clothes, bedding, etc.) This history and the nature of smoking related fire deaths, in combination with other states passing similar pieces of legislation lead Maine’s 123rd legislature to pass “An Act Concerning Reduced Ignition Propensity Cigarettes,” Chapter 25 3, 22 M.R.S.A. §1555-E. Prior to Maine’s passage of Chapter 253, the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, California, Oregon and New York had passed similar legislation. In addition, Canada had passed national legislation. By 2007 Maine was surrounded by states and Canada who had enacted legislation requiring cigarettes sold within their boundaries be reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes. At the time this report is being written all 50 states have implemented RIP laws. In general these laws are similar the most significant exception being that Maine’s law did not require payment of a fee for the certification of fire safe cigarettes. Many states charge a fee ranging from $100 to $1,500 per brand style and up. This report describes RIP cigarettes, summarizes Maine’s implementation effort, examines some data on smoking related fire in Maine and looks at other findings regarding the impact of this legislation. INTRODUCTION According to the National Fire Protection Association, fires started by smoking materials remains one of the top 5 causes of structural fires in the United States and the top cause of structural fire related deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 15.5% of the adult population were current smokers in 2016 compared to 33.2% in 1980. Despite today’s comparatively small percentage of smokers, smoking remained the leading cause of home fire deaths over the total five-year period of 2012-2016. This higher level of lethality is due to the fact that smoking related fire deaths frequently involve an individual close to the heat source (cigarette), materials first ignited (upholstery, clothes) and point of ignition (where the fire started). The majority of home smoking related fire deaths involve mattresses, bedding and upholstered furniture in addition to the trash. The close proximity to ignition worsens burn and smoke inhalation injury because mitigation technologies such as smoke detectors, sprinklers or escape planning strategies can’t be activated soon enough to mitigate injury. Mid to older age citizens comprise 76% of smoking related fire deaths. Older adults in general, already at high risk in terms of fire fatality, continue to smoke more. A substantial number of Maine’s older adult population use medical oxygen. Since 2009 Maine has averaged at least one death per year due to smoking while on oxygen. The combination of so many residents still smoking and the data on smoking related fire deaths set the foundation for a movement to propose and pass RIP legislation with New York leading the way in 2004. Ultimately the best strategy for reducing smoking related fire fatalities is prevention. Prevention can include efforts to educate the public and change behaviors, continued efforts at smoking cessation in addition to the policy requiring that only RIP cigarettes be available to the consumer. 3 REDUCED IGNITION PROPENSITY CIGARETTES A fire-safe cigarette has a reduced propensity to burn when left unattended. The most common fire-safe technology used by cigarette manufacturers is to wrap cigarettes with two or three thin bands of less-porous paper that act as “speed bumps” to slow down a burning cigarette. If a fire-safe cigarette is left unattended, the burning tobacco will reach one of these speed bumps and self-extinguish. Fire-safe cigarettes meet an established cigarette fire safety performance standard based on the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E2187, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes. Cigarette packs, cartons, and boxing are also required to meet marking requirements set forth in the law. STATISTICS ON SMOKING RELATED FIRES AND DEATHS IN MAINE Cigarette fires comprise a small overall percentage of fires but are the most lethal. Cigarettes were reported as the heat source in 345 fire reports filed by Maine Fire Departments between 2018 and 2020. These fires killed 7 civilians and 1 firefighter. Another 14 civilians and 1 firefighter were injured. The fires resulted in total contents and property losses of $1,926,651. Of these 345 fires, smoking was the cause of the fire in 158 structures1 and 129 residential structures (1 & 2, multifamily structures). Because the impetus of the Fire Safe Cigarette effort was to reduce deaths due to smoking fires which occur almost always in a residential structure, we focused on structures and residential structures Table 1 below provides you with the frequency of structure fires by cause for 2008, the year the law was enacted, and the last three years covered in this report. Structure fires caused by smoking have increased since the law was enacted. However, in contrast to other causes smoking continue to comprise a smaller percentage of all structure fire causes. Table 1 Maine Fire Incident Reporting System - All Structure Fire Causes 2008, 2018 – 2020 (Maine NFIRS Reporting System) 2008 2018 2019 2020 # Fires % of TL # Fires % of TL # Fires % of TL # Fires % of TL Incendiary/suspicious 54 2.8% 59 2.6% 57 2.5% 58 3.0% Smoking 34 1.7% 63 2.7% 42 1.9% 57 2.9% Heating 756 38.7% 691 30.0% 659 29.1% 520 26.6% Cooking 469 24.0% 588 25.5% 615 27.2% 519 26.6% Electrical Malfunction 82 4.2% 139 6.0% 152 6.7% 109 5.6% Other 559 28.6% 767 33.2% 739 32.6% 690 35.3% Total 1,954 100.0% 2,307 100.0% 2,264 100.0% 1,953 100.0% 1 This would include any type of structure, i.e. piers, tunnels, bridges in addition to non-residential buildings. 4 When we look at smoking as the cause of residential structure fires, Table 2, we also see that smoking related fires comprise a small share of the distribution of fire causes. Residential structure fires are the most frequent among structure fires in Maine and across the nation and are where most fire fatalities occur. Table 2 Maine Fire Incident Reporting System - Residential (1 or 2, multifamily) Structure Fire Causes 2018 – 2020 (Maine NFIRS Reporting System) 2008 2018 2019 2020 # # Cause # Fires % of TL # Fires % of TL Fires % of TL Fires % of TL Incendiary/suspicious 31 1.9% 38 2.1% 36 2.0% 39 2.5% Smoking 29 1.8% 54 3.0% 31 1.7% 44 2.9% Heating 661 41.1% 597 32.7% 567 31.6% 455 29.5% Cooking 348 21.6% 439 24.1% 452 25.2% 397 25.8% Electrical 55 3.4% 93 5.1% 106 5.9% 83 5.4% Other 485 30.1% 602 33.0% 600 33.5% 523 33.9% Total 1,609 100.0% 1,823 100.0% 1,792 100.0% 1,541 100.0% Overall, smoking related fires in residential 1 or 2 and multifamily dwellings have remained relatively steady since 2008.2 Graph 1 Source: Maine NFIRS Reporting System When we look at fire fatality’s we use the Fire Marshal’s Office Investigations files since the bureau is charged with investigating all fires resulting in the death of an individual. In reviewing that data for the ten-year period beginning in 2011 you can see that fatalities due to smoking caused fires contrast sharply with other causes. Nearly double the count of heating related fires resulting in a fatality. What is most surprising about Table 3 is the fact that there were no smoking related fire deaths in 2020. A year in which people remained in their homes more so than any other year due to COVID. 2 Fire reporting among Maine fire departments increased during this time frame. Possibly influencing the upward trend. 5 Table 3 Fire Fatality by Year: Four Determined Leading Causes of Fire Death (Maine Fire Investigators Reports) Year Heating Electrical Smoking Cooking 2011 2 1 6 1 2012 0 0 0 0 2013 0 2 3 2 2014 2 1 7 1 2015 2 0 6 1 2016 3 1 1 1 2017 3 0 2 1 2018 1 3 1 2 2019 4 2 6 0 2020 0 1 0 1 Total 17 11 32 10 Graph 2 below illustrates the lethality of smoking related fires in terms of the percentage of all fire deaths they comprise.