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National Arson Awareness Week … May 4th – 10th
Toylike Lighters: Playing with Fire
The theme for this year’s Arson Awareness Week is “Toylike Lighters—Playing with Fire.” The goal is to focus public attention on the dangers of these lighters in the hands of children.
Novelty lighters that resemble toys have been responsible for injuries, deaths, and accidents across the United States. Many of these lighters look like animals, cars, phones, cameras, fishing lures, coins, markers, and doll accessories. One lighter is nearly identical to the popular rubber ducky bath toy—it even quacks! There are also toylike and novelty lighters that look like tools such as tape measures, drills, hammers, and paint brushes. Ironically, there are even lighters that mimic a Dalmatian donning a fire helmet, a red fire truck, or fire extinguishers.
All of our local fire officials, the Alaska Fire Chiefs Association along with the Alaska State Fire Marshal as well as fire professionals from across the nation want to make our citizens aware of the problems with novelty lighters and how dangerous they are to our children and to adults. Even local merchants are taking a stand against novelty lighters. OK Lumber/ Ace Hardware manager Jordan Halden has pulled all the novelty lighters off his shelves and has stopped selling them.
For more information, please call Niki Pereira with Firestoppers at 346-2888.
Children Killed and Injured
Mistaking lighters for toys has proved to be deadly: On September 25, 2007, 15-month old and 2-year-old of Russellville, Arkansas, died after setting fire to their apartment with a motorcycle shaped lighter. Another child was in grocery store in Livermore, Maine, last June with his mother buying sandwiches. Thinking it might be a flashlight; the 6-year-old picked up a miniature baseball bat and flicked the switch. A flame shot out, singeing his eyebrow and burning part of his face.
Children are not the only ones fooled by novelty lighters. Beaverton, Michigan resident purchased a novelty lighter for her 4-year-old child after mistaking it for a toy. In 2006, a South Carolina woman shot herself in the hand while attempting to light a cigarette with what she thought was a pistol-shaped novelty lighter.
 A fire marshal in Wisconson was making a purchase at a local home improvement store when his 12-year-old daughter picked up what she believed was a tape measure. When she clicked the button on the tape measure, a flame came out. Fortunately, the child was not hurt, and the store owner voluntarily stopped selling the lighters.
In North Carolina, a 6-year-old boy sustained second-degree burns after playing with a lighter that looked like a toy cell phone. In Maryland, playground equipment was set on fire by three 5-year-old girls using a gun shaped lighter. In Oregon, one child died and another was permanently brain damaged after a 6-year-old, playing with a lighter that looked like a toy dolphin, started a fire. In another incident, a mother was severely burned after her child, playing with a lighter that resembled a Christmas tree, ignited the mother’s bed.
Toylike and Novelty Lighter Legislation
Some local and State governments are taking action by banning the sale of toylike and novelty lighters, and limiting their distribution. Maine was the first State to pass a ban on toylike and novelty lighters, passing the legislation on March 14, 2008. Tennessee also passed a ban, in April 2008. Other States considering bans are Alabama, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Vermont. In addition to State bans and restrictions on the sale of toylike and novelty lighters, numerous local jurisdictions have passed ordinances. These include more than 19 jurisdictions in Arkansas, another 6 in California, and Yakima County in Washington State.
European Union Takes Action on Novelty Lighters
On May 11, 2006, the European Consumer Protection Commission adopted a decision requiring Member States to ensure that, from March 11, 2007, cigarette lighters are child resistant when placed on the EU market. The decision also prohibits placing lighters on the market that resemble objects that are particularly attractive to children, so-called novelty lighters. According to the European Standard, a lighter shall not be novelty-like, because the inherent risk is significantly higher. The novelty lighters are attractive for children and, taking into account children’s normal behavior, risk of burning injury is present during their use. “It’s now time for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to follow suit,” said the National Association of Fire Marshals in a recently passed resolution. As Oregon State Fire Marshal Nancy Orr wrote to the CPSC, “There are no good reasons that lighters should be manufactured to resemble toys.”
Source: Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General of the European Union
Links of Interest
US Fire Administration
Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal
No Novelty Lighter Coalition
The Idea Bank
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