Senate OKs Utah sale of 'fire-safe' cigarettes

Cigarette manufacturers could sell only "fire-safe" cigarettes in Utah under a measure approved by the state Senate Tuesday.

SB200, sponsored by Sen. Ed Mayne, D-Salt Lake, aims to reduce the number of cigarette-ignited fires by requiring tobacco companies to stock Utah's shelves with reduced ignition propensity cigarettes. The technology, Mayne said, is a "proven practical and effective way to eliminate the risk of cigarette-ignited fires."

Reduced ignition propensity cigarettes are made with thicker paper in two areas, which helps restrict oxygen and interrupts the burning process. If a fire-safe cigarette falls on a mattress or a couch, it will extinguish itself before igniting and sparking a fire, according to the National Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.

Utah fire departments responded to 2,100 smoking-related residential fires between 1995 and 2005, according to Mayne. Those fires caused 41 deaths and more than $4 million in property loss.

Six other states already require that only "fire-safe" cigarettes be sold in their state.