The number of fires caused by cigarette butts stood at 5,846 over the year immediately preceding this month (from June 2017 through May 2018), down 14.8 percent compared to the previous year’s 6,861 incidents, according to a report by the NFA. (Image credit: Kobiz Media/Korea Bizwire)
Jun. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Aside from controversial harmful effects, one of the positive side effects of e-cigarettes – a popular substitute for conventional cigarettes among smokers – was highlighted in a government report yesterday.
According to the National Fire Agency, the government body responsible for fire prevention measures, fires caused by careless smoking have seen a significant decline over the past year. And this favorable trend seems to be the direct result of the surging popularity of e-cigarettes.
Sure, an increased vigilance towards fire safety following deadly fire accidents in Jecheon and Miryang that killed dozens of people played a huge role in the decline, but a drop in the use of smoking paraphernalia such as cigarettes and lighters thanks to increasing use of e-cigarettes has also contributed to this trend.
The number of fires caused by cigarette butts stood at 5,846 over the year immediately preceding this month (from June 2017 through May 2018), down 14.8 percent compared to the previous year’s 6,861 incidents, according to a report by the NFA.
This is remarkable given that smoking-related fires have witnessed a similar trend over the course of the past five years, with about 6,600 to 6,800 recorded every year.
Conventional cigarettes tend to make higher heat, reaching up to 600 degrees Celsius, an average of 350 degrees Celsius higher than e-cigarettes, which tend to burn at about 250 degrees Celsius. (Image credit: Kobiz Media/Korea Bizwire)
The reduction in the number of cigarette-related fires has resulted in a decline in the number of fires in total across the nation last year; down 2,493 cases compared to the previous year.
Conventional cigarettes tend to make higher heat, reaching up to 600 degrees Celsius, an average of 350 degrees Celsius higher than e-cigarettes, which tend to burn at about 250 degrees Celsius.
In fact, embers from a lit cigarette, a common cause of fires which quickly become uncontrollable when the flame starts spreading to combustible material, do not exist in the form of e-cigarettes.
That is why a new phrase is emerging among local smokers about the act of smoking e-cigarettes: “a hundred harms with a single gain,” a play on “a hundred harms without a single gain,” which refers to the utterly destructive and harmful effects of smoking cigarettes the conventional way.
Jerry M. Kim (jerrykim@koreabizwire.com)
