Cathy Hedrick?s son, a Prince George?s County volunteer firefighter, died 15 years ago while trying to rescue a victim trapped in a blaze caused by an unattended cigarette.
Supporters of a safe cigarette want Hedrick?s death to serve as rallying call to pass legislation that requires the sale of fire-safe cigarettes.
“My child died because this technology was not put out to the public,” said Cathy Hedrick, who now works with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to promote firefighter safety initiatives such as fire-safe cigarettes.
Surrounded by firefighters, Sen. Mike Lennet, D-Montgomery, the lead sponsor of the bill, reminded those that cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths in Maryland as well as nationwide.
“On the state and national levels, smoking-related fires account for approximately 25 percent of all fire deaths every year,” he said.
The bill has already picked up bipartisan support that would mandate the sale of fire-safe cigarettes designed to reduce fires caused by smoldering, unattended cigarettes.
Unlike ordinary cigarettes that will burn from one end to the other if left untouched, fire-safe cigarettes contain two bands of thicker wrapping. When a fire-safe cigarette is left unattended and burns to the point of one of the bands, known as speed bumps, the cigarette extinguishes itself.
Lennet said fire-safe cigarettes are already sold in six states and have not proven to cost more than regular cigarettes.
State Fire Marshal Bill Barnard said the fire-safe cigarette technology could dramatically prevent fire deaths and injuries to homeowners and firefighters. In 2006, 17 people died from cigarette-related fires, Barnard said.
