Articles and Links
Smoking-caused Fires in
Massachusetts, United States
July 21, 2016
I will post articles and links as I find them (this can mean daily or frequently during the day).
Please check in for updates.

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Allston
Attleboro
Boston
Braintree

Dorchester
Holyoke
Mattapoisett
Pittsfield

Plymouth
Quincy
Revere
Springfield

Statewide
Waltham
Ware
Westfield

Allston

11/1/12 Allston fire that forced residents to jump blamed on cigarette The Boston Harold A discarded cigarette is being blamed for the five-alarm blaze that engulfed an Allston home and hospitalized five people over the weekend, including a young woman forced to jump from three stories up to escape the inferno.

Attleboro

4/28/12 Smoking cause in deadly apartment fire WPRI.com Fire officials say a deadly house fire on Chestnut Street in North Attleboro back in January, was caused by careless smoking.
4/27/12 Smoking blamed in fatal blaze The Sun Chronicle Authorities say a man killed in a fire Jan. 23 at a Chestnut Street apartment complex fell asleep on a living room couch while he was smoking, causing the blaze that also critically injured his roommate and displaced 18 other residents.

Boston

10/17/14 ‘Careless Disposal Of Smoking Materials’ Likely Cause Of Nine-Alarm Allston Fire CBS Boston Fire investigators have determined that careless disposal of smoking material was the likely cause of a fire that displaced dozens of residents in the Allston neighborhood of Boston last month.
11/3/13 Colonial Avenue fire displaces 14 in two homes; smoker blamed Dorchester
Reporter Officials blame careless disposal of a lit cigarette on a first-floor porch, which they say ignited in flames that shot up to second- and third-floor porches.
5/2/13 Careless smoking blamed for fatal Boston fire WHDH.com Investigators say a weekend fire that fatally injured a Boston University student was caused by careless disposal of smoking materials.
Careless smoking blamed for fatal BU house fire ca.news.yahoo.com Boston fire investigators determined Thursday the careless disposal of smoking material led to the fatal three alarm fire early Sunday that killed a Boston University student.

5/2/13 Fire that killed BU student Binland Lee was caused by careless disposal of smoking materials, Boston Fire department says Boston.com Investigators have determined that the Allston fire that killed a Boston University student last week was caused by the careless disposal of smoking materials, the Boston Fire Department said today.
4/25/12 State fire officials say more smoking-related fires are beginning outside the home Boston.com A growing number of the fires in homes that are caused by smoking are beginning on the outside of the buildings, where people have been exiled to light up because of changing attitudes on their habits, state fire officials said.
3/10/12 State fire marshal warns home medical oxygen can be hazardous around smokers Boston.com Following two recent deaths of women in their own homes, the state fire marshal has renewed a public education campaign warning about the dangers of using oxygen in the home.

Braintree

4/16/15 Smoking blamed for fire displacing occupants of 24 apartments in Weymouth, two fires in Braintree Wicked Local Braintree Fire officials are blaming careless disposal of smoking materials for causing three fires this week, two in Braintree and one in Weymouth where a blaze in a first floor apartment caused $100,000 in damage at 53 Queen Anne Drive Thursday, April 16.

Dorchester

3/29/13 Careless disposal of cigarette seen as cause of six-alarm Dorchester blaze Boston Globe Someone’s careless disposal of a cigarette was the cause of a six-alarm blaze in Dorchester that caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage and left 30 people homeless, the Boston fire department said today.

Holyoke

5/9/12 Holyoke Fire Department: Blaze that injured city firefighter likely caused by smoldering cigarette MassLive.com a Madison Avenue home was caused by smoldering smoking materials, according to Holyoke Fire Lt. Thomas G. Paquin.

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Mattapoisett

2/26/16

Mattapoisett Housing Authority

wanderer.com All it takes is one smoker to burn the place down.

Pittsfield

4/3/12 Victim's smoking blamed for Orchard Street fire Berkshire Eagle The house fire that claimed the life of a Pittsfield woman early Sunday morning was ignited after the victim fell asleep while smoking on her couch, according to the state fire marshal's office.

Plymouth

4/28/15

Two Fatal Fires Within a Week Caused by Smoking Materials

CapeCod.com For the second time within a week, a fire caused by the improper disposal of smoking materials has resulted in a fatality.
5/27/12 Chief: Smoker’s oxygen tank fed fire Boston Herald Fire officials renewed warnings yesterday of mixing smoking with medical oxygen after they said a Plymouth woman’s dropped cigarette ignited tubing for her home oxygen tank, setting off a four-alarm blaze that injured five people and displaced two dozen residents.
5/26/12 Cigarette blamed in fire at Plymouth, Mass. housing complex necn.com Investigators said the blaze was sparked by cigarette that burned through an oxygen line used by a resident of the unit.

Quincy

4/18/12 Rash of brush fires blamed on careless smokers PatriotLedger.com “Today a lot of people go outside to smoke and they simply drop a cigarette in their yard,” Smyth said.

Revere

3/12/12 No Product Liability in Fire Hazard of Cigarettes Courthouse News Service Philip Morris is not liable for a fire that killed a woman who fell asleep before putting out her cigarette, a Boston federal judge ruled.

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Springfield

11/20/15 Careless disposal of smoking materials cause of deadly Springfield blaze, fire department says Union News The blaze broke out on the front porch of a home at 234 St. James Boulevard.
4/11/13 Discarded cigarette cause of blaze that prompted evacuation of apartment building in North End of Springfield MassLive.com A carelessly discarded cigarette was the cause of a fire that prompted the evacuation of a North End apartment complex late Wednesday night.
4/3/13 Springfield Fire Department: Careless disposal of smoking materials cause of blaze that displaced 5 from Forest Park neighborhood home MassLive.com The Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad has determined that careless disposal of smoking materials was the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a multi-family home in the Forest Park neighborhood early Tuesday.
3/14/12 Man Burned from Lighting a Cigarette While Using an Oxygen Machine WGGB ABC 40 A man with an oxygen purification machine was burned today after he went to lite a cigarette and caught fire.
2/27/13 Deadly Westfield Fire Caused by Smoking with Home Oxygen WGGB Fox 6 News At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan and Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan announced that the fire was caused by smoking near a supply of home oxygen.

Statewide

2/14/14 Fire-Safe Cigarette Law Reduces Home Fires: Study Healthday The largest declines were in fires caused by situations such as people falling asleep while smoking or cigarettes igniting flammable materials.

Waltham

2/19/15

Smoking Likely Cause Of Waltham Fire That Killed Mother, Son CBS Boston However, 49-year-old Eric Miller was known to be a heavy smoker and the fire originated in his second-floor bedroom.

Ware

3/18/13 Cigarette causes Ware apartment fire WWLP 22 News Deputy Fire Chief Edward Wloch told 22News, a woman forgot to put out her cigarette. It started a fire which caused the woman's home oxygen tank to explode.
Dangers of smoking near an oxygen tank WWLP 22 News It seems like common sense; don't smoke near an oxygen tank.

Westfield

7/22/15

Man killed in house fire blamed on smoking

Boston Globe State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan and Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan said that the fire early Wednesday appears to have been caused by improper disposal of smoking materials.
2/28/13 Fatal Westfield fire caused by smoking, oxygen Boston.com Officials say a fire in Westfield this week that took the life of a 72-year-old woman was caused by smoking near a home oxygen system.
2/27/13 Deadly Westfield Fire Caused by Smoking with Home Oxygen Fox 6 News The apartment complex, which houses mostly elderly residents, was evacuated when the fire broke out on the second floor.
2/27/13 Westfield senior housing fire caused by cigarette smoking in vicinity of home oxygen system The Republican A fire at General Shepard Apartments that took the life of 72-year-old resident Margaret A. Lunden was started by a cigarette smoking in the presence of a home oxygen system, state Fire Marshal Steven D. Coan said.

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"But now God has shown us a different way to heaven - not by "being good enough" and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says he will accept and acquit us - declare us "not guilty" - if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal; yet now God declares us "not guilty" of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins." Romans 3:21-24 Living Bible