Citation

Alpert HR, Christiani DC, Orav EJ, Dockery DW, Connolly GN. Am. J. Public Health 2014; 104(4): e56-61.

Affiliation

Hillel R. Alpert, David C. Christiani, and Douglas W. Dockery are with the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Hillel R. Alpert and Gregory N. Connolly are with the Center for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health. E. John Orav is with the Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2013.301837

PMID

24524537

Abstract

Objectives. We evaluated the Massachusetts Fire Safe Cigarette Law's (FSCL's) effectiveness in preventing residential fires. Methods. We examined unintentional residential fires reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System from 2004 to 2010. We analyzed FSCL effect on the likelihood of cigarette- versus noncigarette-caused fires and effect modification by fire scenario factors by using an interrupted time series regression model. We analyzed the effect of FSCL on monthly fire rates with Poisson regression. Results. Cigarettes caused 1629 unintentional residential fires during the study period. The FSCL was associated with a 28% (95% confidence interval = 12%, 41%) reduction in the odds of cigarette- versus noncigarette-caused fires, although not in analyses restricted to casualty fires, with smaller sample size. The largest reductions were among fires in which human factors were involved; that were first ignited on furniture, bedding, or soft goods; that occurred in living areas; or that occurred in the summer or winter. Conclusions. The FSCL appears to have decreased the likelihood of cigarette-caused residential fires, particularly in scenarios for which the ignition propensity standard was developed. Current standards should be adopted, and the need for strengthening should be considered. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 13, 2014: e1-e6. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301837).

Language: en