Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon says safer cigarettes are coming to Baltimore, now that Philip Morris USA will begin selling cigarettes meeting fire safety standards to wholesalers in the city.
Philip Morris? change will begin April 1.
Cigarettes meeting the fire safety standard are much less likely to cause fires than other cigarettes, and are available in New York, California and other states, according to Dixon?s office.
While a Maryland regulation is scheduled to take effect July 1, Phillip Morris USA has worked with Mayor Sheila Dixon?s office and the Baltimore City Health Department to make the switch sooner, the mayor said. “The announcement by Philip Morris USA is a step in the right direction,” Dixon said in a statement.
“I call on the other tobacco companies to make the same commitment, because we want to avoid as many fires as possible.”
In 2007, at least 16 people in Baltimore have died from fires caused by cigarettes ? including one of the worst fires in city history.
In June, the fire department said the deadly East Baltimore fire that killed eight people was likely caused by smoking.
Firefighters responded at 7:20 a.m. May 22 to the 1900 block of Cecil Avenue, where they found a row house that had erupted into an inferno.
The blaze injured 13 people and killed eight.
“After weeks combing through debris, performing interviews, recreating the fire scene and performing other assessments, the investigation team has determined that the probable cause of the fire was related to smoking materials on the first floor,” the fire department stated in a news release at the time.
