Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes

Background

Smoking has long been known to be one of the leading causes of civilian home fire deaths in the United States every year, according to the National Fire Protection Agency. Seven people every day die in house fires says a 2017 NFPA report. In 1984 and 1990, the United States Congress tasked the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, to explore whether cigarettes with a reduced ignition propensity were technically and commercially viable. After a multitude of studies done by a committee consisting of federal agencies, fire departments and health advocates, resulted in the need for standards to produce fire safe cigarettes. In 2004, New York became the first state to mandate that manufacturers can only provide the state with fire standard compliant cigarettes. Five years later, Arizona adopted the law that required all cigarettes sold in the state to be 'fire-safe.'

How Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes Work

Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes, or FSC, are designed to reduce the amount of time that a cigarette continues to burn when it's not actively being smoked. By reducing the amount of time the cigarette continues to burn, it is less likely to ignite furniture or bedding materials. The predominant method that cigarette companies use to produce Fire Standard Compliant Cigarettes is by wrapping the cigarettes with two or three thin bands of paper that is less porous than the outer paper tube. These bands act as 'speed bumps' slowing down the burning of the cigarette, thus causing it to self-extinguish. 

Fire Standards Compliant Cigarettes in Arizona 

Effective August 1, 2009, all cigarettes, as defined in ARS 41-2070.2, sold in the state of Arizona must comply with the Office of the State Fire Marshal's Fire Safe Cigarette Standards. These standards are defined in ARS 41-270 - 41.2170.8. Any manufacturer who intends for its cigarettes to be sold must have its cigarettes listed as compliant in the Office of the State Fire Marshal's Directory of Fire Standards Compliant Cigarettes. 

List of Registered Compliant Brands 

Brands of Fire Safe Cigarettes

Fire Safe Cigarettes Reported by Manufacturer

Certification and Re-certification 

Manufacturers' certification is obtained based on a cigarette's 'brand family' - the brand name. The certification fee is $250 per certified brand family for both initial certification and re-certification. Compliant styles within the certified brand family must be individually certified as Fire Safe Standards Compliant in order to be lawfully sold in the state of Arizona. Cigarettes are required to be re-certified within three (3) years of the most recent, previous certification for that style of cigarette. 

Although the certification fee is for brand family, each brand style within a brand family must be individually tested and certified as Fire Standards Compliant. 

If a manufacturer makes a change to a cigarette which is likely to alter its compliance with ARS 41-2170 - 41-2170.8, the cigarette must be re-certified before being lawfully sold within the state of Arizona. 

For certification and re-certification click here.