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Smoking 'main cause of fatal house fires'
A third of accidental house fire victims died in blazes started by cigarettes, new research showed today.
Despite the statistics, fewer than half of smokers were aware that cigarettes were the biggest cause of fatal house fires.
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Efforts to persuade smokers to give up, or at least cut out dangerous habits such as lighting up in bed, were stepped up as part of today's No Smoking Day.
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The Government's Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Sir Ken Knight, said: "People need to be aware of the risks of smoking in the home and how smoking materials can very easily lead to fires."
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Dr Sam Janes, consultant in respiratory and general medicine at University College London Hospital, said: "Many people under-estimate how harmful toxic smoke can be in a house fire - the fumes can render a person unconscious in seconds."
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Dan Tickle, chief executive of the No Smoking Day charity, said: "Seventy per cent of smokers want to stop, but aren't aware that there is free, local help available to them."
Campaigners said the house fire figures were a "shocking wake-up call."
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
