Fire departments all over the Garden State are speaking out in support of requiring all cigarettes in New Jersey to be fire safe or self-extinguishing.
According to fire officials, unattended cigarettes are the number one cause of deaths in residential fires. Most often, fire officials say the fires start because a smoker forgot to put out a cigarette or fell asleep. Firefighters say fire safe cigarettes are a way to help prevent those kinds of fires. Fire safe cigarettes are rolled in a special kind of paper that automatically goes out after a certain point.
Many smokers say they are in favor of required fire safe cigarettes as well. Five other states, including New York, already require fire safe cigarettes. The bill requiring them in New Jersey should go up for vote this month in the Assembly.