Groups Split Over Endorsing Fire-Safe Cigarettes

Burn victims and consumer advocates urged Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation designed to reduce the fire danger from cigarettes, the nation’s leading cause of fatal fires.

But tobacco officials, testifying against the bill before a House subcommittee, were joined by some fire officials in urging that more research be done before a fire safety standard is set.

Consumer activists and congressmen pushing the bill had hoped for a united front by fire groups. But the proposal has split the ranks of the groups, some of which have received grants and contracts from the Tobacco Institute in recent years.

“It is now time to begin the process of moving a fire-safe cigarette from the laboratory into the environment where it can make a difference,” said District of Columbia Fire Chief Rayfield Alfred, speaking for the International Assn. of Fire Chiefs.

“Let us see if the fire-safe cigarettes can be made before we attempt to mandate them,” countered Philip Stittleburg, representing the National Volunteer Fire Council. “It is not a political determination but a scientific one.”

Rep. Doug Walgren (D-Pa.), chairman of the subcommittee on commerce, consumer protection and competitiveness of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, questioned whether support from the industry played a role in persuading some fire organizations to endorse study over action.

“Simply put, we need a cigarette which, when dropped accidentally in a chair or bed, goes out before a life-threatening fire can start,” Walgren said.

Cigarette fires kill nearly 1,500 Americans a year, including children who were at home when a smoker fell asleep.

Two years ago, a federal task force concluded that it would be “technically feasible” to produce safer cigarettes. The study found that thinner cigarettes, using looser-packed tobacco and less-porous paper, would cause fewer fires.

Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission a year to establish an ignition resistance standard for cigarettes. The industry then would have another year to bring its products into line with the standard.

A rival bill by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) on behalf of the industry would launch a three-year study of unresolved issues, including the commercial potential of safer cigarettes. It would not require any action upon completion.

“The issue of commercial feasibility is a real question,” said Charles Whitley, a former congressman who testified on behalf of the Tobacco Institute. “More research needs to be done.”

Asked by Walgren about the industry’s financial support of fire groups, Whitley said there were “no strings” attached to the grants.

The industry several years ago began providing the grants, creating what an industry lawyer called “the largest privately financed fire education/fire prevention program in the United States.”

Johnson reported from Washington and Levin reported from Los Angeles.