press release no smoking day highlights fire safety message

PRESS RELEASE• Never leave lit cigarettes, cigars or pipes unattended. They can easily overbalance asthey burn down.• Use a proper, heavy ashtray. Make sure it can’t tip over and is made of a material thatwon’t burn.• Tap your ash into an ashtray, never a rubbish bin. Don’t let the ash and cigarette endsbuild up in the ashtray.Paul Jacques, Group Manager with the RBFRS Prevention team, said: “If people want an extrareason to try and give up smoking, then thinking about the fire dangers associated with smokingis a good place to start.“For roughly the price of a packet of cigarettes, you can buy a smoke detector for your homeand that has got to be a good bargain. Fitting smoke detectors is the best way to protectyourself, your family and your home. Working smoke alarms make you more than twice aslikely survive an accidental house fire - without them you lose valuable time to escape. Makesure they are in good working order by checking the batteries every week.“Fires caused by cigarettes and other smoking materials can have devastating consequences,so when it comes to extinguishing them, make sure you ‘put it out, right out.’”ENDS.2Issued by Nicole Targett, corporate communications managerph: 0118 932 2283 email: targettn@rbfrs.co.ukRoyal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, 103 Dee Road, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire RG30 4FS