4
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1974
SMOKERS URGED NOT TO DISCARD CIGARETTE ENDS INDISCRIMINATELY
*********
THE ROLE OF THE CIGARETTE END IN STARTING FIRES IS PARAMOUNT.
STATISTICS FROM COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD REVEAL IT AS TOPPING THE +CAUSES OF FIRE+ CHARTS YEAR AFTER YEAR.
AND HONG KONG IS NO EXCEPTION.
ONE IN EVERY THREE OF OUR FIRES IN 1973/74 RESULTED FROM SMOKERS CARELESSLY DISCARDING CIGARETTE ENDS OR MATCHES WHILE STILL ALIGHT.
+
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, A CIGARETTE END THROWN INTO A CAN OF FLAMMABLE LIQUID MISTAKEN FOR AN ASH TRAY LED TO A FIRE WHICH GUTTED THE PREMISES OF A PRINTING COMPANY AND CAUSED LOSSES EXCEEDING $1 MILLION.
IN HONG KONG, A WAN CHAI HOTEL FIRE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WAS ESTABLISHED AS VERY LIKELY HAVING BEEN CAUSED BY A CIGARETTE END SETTING FIRE TO A BED. EIGHT PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES AND 21 WERE INJURED.
MANY OTHER MAJOR FIRES IN HONG KONG HAVE BEEN TRACED TO CIGARETTE ENDS AND, CERTAINLY, MANY OF OUR GRASS AND FOREST FIRES OWE THEIR ORIGINS TO LACK OF CARE ON THE PART OF SMOKERS..
די
THERE IS NO EXCUSE AT ALL FOR CIGARETTE ENDS AND MATCHES TO BE DISPOSED OF OTHER THAN IN AN ASH TRAY. THOUSANDS OF THESE HAVE BEEN PROVIDED IN THE STREETS, BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, MANY SMOKERS FIND IT MORE CONVENIENT TO THROW THE IR BUTTS ON THE GROUND, UNCONCERNED POSSIBLY UNKNOWING THAT SUCH NEGLIGENCE CAUSED 2,923 TOTALLY UNNECESSARY FIRES AND INJURED 31 PEOPLE IN THE 1973/74 FINANCIAL YEAR.
MOST CARS ARE FITTED WITH ASH TRAYS, BUT TOO MANY MOTORISTS PREFER TO TOSS THEIR CIGARETTE ENDS OUT OF THE WINDOW WHILE ON THE MOVE, OBLIVIOUS TO WHAT THE RESULTS OF THIS ACTION MIGHT BE.
SOME OF THE WORST TYPES OF OFFENDERS ARE SMOKERS WHO THROW THEIR FINISHED BUTTS FROM THE BALCONIES OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS. IT IS A COMMON SIGHT TO SEE THIS EXTREME EXAMPLE OF IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR OCCURRING. A PUFF OF WIND COULD EASILY TAKE THE BUTT ANYWHERE. IT MIGHT LAND IN AN OPEN CAR, FALL AMONG DANGEROUS GOODS, EVEN ON A BABY IN A PRAM. WHO KNOWS? AND ALL FOR THE WANT OF
A FEW SECONDS TO FIND AN ASH TRAY.
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW EASILY A CIGARETTE END CAN CAUSE A FIRE OCCURRED IN MONG KOK LAST DECEMBER, WHEN CONDITIONS WERE EXTREMELY DRY (THE FIRE SERVICES WERE DEALING WITH AN AVERAGE OF 60 CALLS EACH DAY). EXPERT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE END WAS THROWN INTO A PILE OF RUBBISH. THIS CAUGHT FIRE WHICH VERY QUICKLY SPREAD TO A NEARBY AREA WHERE DANGEROUS GOODS WERE BEING STORED. FORTUNATELY, A PASSER BY NOTICED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND IMMEDIATELY TELEPHONED THE FIRE SERVICES, WHO HAD THE FIRE UNDER CONTROL BEFORE THERE WAS ANY SERIOUS DAMAGE.
/THROWING A