Careless smoking of contraband cigarettes caused another early morning fire Monday at 360 Princess Avenue. While the tenant is expected to survive, he suffered third degree burns and remains in critical condition in hospital.
Contraband cigarettes which started the fire were lacking a safety feature found in legal cigarettes. In this case, the victim was burned as the chair he sat in burst into flames. No working alarms were present in the unit.
According to Acting Deputy Chief Jack Burt, “Despite consistent warnings about careless smoking and the added danger posed by illegal cigarettes, the fire service is disturbed that so many people are not getting the message and these needless deaths and injuries continue to mount”.
Careless smoking of contraband cigarettes contributed to 4 of the last 5 fire fatalities in London.
An investigation of a fire that caused $20,000 in damage last week on the balcony of an apartment at 595 Proudfood Lane shows it was caused by discarding an illegal cigarette which caused the combustible materials on the balcony to catch fire. Fortunately, all occupants were able to safely evacuate.
There was also a $100,000 fire at 95 St. Julien St. at 4 a.m. Thursday that was started by careless smoking of illegal cigarettes, fire officials say.
One patient was hospitalised but has since been released.
