The Impact of Reduced Fire Risk Cigarettes Regulation on Residential Fire Incidents, Mortality and Health Service Utilisation in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Smoking materials are a common ignition source for residential fires. In Australia, reduced fire risk (RFR) cigarettes regulation was implemented in 2010. However, the impact of this regulation on residential fires is unknown. This paper examines the impact of the RFR cigarettes regulation on the severity and health outcomes of fire incidents in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, from 2005 to 2014. Fire department data from 2005 to 2014 were linked with ambulance, emergency department, hospital, outpatient burns clinic and mortality datasets for NSW. Negative binomial regression analysis was performed to assess the changes to fire incidents’ severity pre- and post-RFR cigarettes regulation. There was an 8% reduction in total fire incidents caused by smokers’ materials post-RFR cigarettes regulation. Smokers’ materials fire incidents that damaged both contents and structure of the building, where fire flames extended beyond the room of fire origin, with over AUD 1000 monetary damage loss, decreased by 18, 22 and 12%, respectively. RFR cigarettes regulation as a fire risk mitigation has positively impacted the residential fire incident outcomes. This provides support for regulation of fire risk protective measures and bestows some direction for other fire safety policies and regulations.

Fire Risk Assessment of Heritage Villages: A Case Study on Chengkan Village in China

“…The establishment data of the buffer zone are all fire hazard assessment indices. According to the characteristics of the moving ember and the distribution box (fixed risk source), and in combination with the characteristics of the transmission range of moving ember, three buffer zones (10,20,30) are set up (Figure 11a,b) [38]. Three buffer zones (20,40,60) are set up for fire hydrants according to the requirements for fire hydrant spacing in the Regulations on the Protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities, Towns and Villages (Figure 11c).…”

“…According to the firefighting distance of micro fire engines, three buffer zones (5,12,18) are set up for the roads in the village (Figure 11d) [39]. According to the behavior characteristics of the tourists from other villages and the survey results of the tourist's behavior, three buffer zones (15,30,45) are set up for the travel main route (Figure 11f), as well as two buffer zones (10,20) for tourist attractions (Figure 11e) and a travel branch route (Figure 11f) [40].…”

“…Most ancient buildings in heritage villages require different levels of maintenance. Due to the use of various forms of energy and materials during construction, the fire load and moving embers exist simultaneously, which can easily cause fires if there is a lack of supervision [29,30]. Moreover, the tourism industry relies on the rapid development of heritage villages.…”