Tobacco.org

Schweitzer-Mauduit Announces First Quarter 2008 Results 

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE: SWM) today reported a first quarter 2008 net loss of $1.2 million compared with net income of $4.2 million during the first quarter of 2007. The diluted loss per share was $0.08 compared with diluted earnings per share of $0.27 in the prior-year quarter. Restructuring expenses decreased earnings per share during the first quarters of 2008 and 2007 by $0.09 and $0.11, respectively. Excluding restructuring expenses, earnings per share of $0.01 for the first quarter of 2008 declined relative to diluted earnings per share of $0.38 for the first quarter of 2007.

Wayne H. Deitrich, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented that, "The first quarter 2008 financial results for Schweitzer-Mauduit were disappointing. Although we expected the first quarter of 2008 to be the lowest earnings quarter of the year, results were more severely impacted than expected by significant inflationary cost increases, especially energy, combined with a longer than planned start-up of a rebuilt paper machine in France and unfavorable currency impacts. We realized increased earnings from higher sales volumes of reconstituted tobacco leaf products and cigarette paper used in lower ignition propensity, or LIP, cigarettes, but this was not enough to offset negative changes in our business. During the first quarter, we completed the 35 million euro acquisition of the 28 percent minority share in our reconstituted tobacco leaf business in France.

Jump to full article »

Smoking, fire safety (Fire safety) 

Cigarettes, lighters and matches are the biggest killers in accidental fires in the home. Read on for fire safety tips to help prevent fires starting this way.

Studies in London have shown that they cause up to half of all fatal house fires and are the second biggest cause of injury. In London alone, smokers' materials caused 584 fires involving 12 deaths and 202 injuries in 2002.

Cigarette fires often happen at night after people have gone to bed. People are more relaxed in the evening and may have had a few drinks or be tired. It's important to remember that one final check could save you and your family's lives.

Seven ways to be safer:

* Never smoke in bed

* Always use a proper ashtray and make sure it can't be knocked over

* Never leave a lit cigarette around

Jump to full article »

Cigarette Butt May Have Caused House Blaze 

A careless cigarette cast off could have triggered a house blaze in Mill Hill, fire investigation teams have said.

The flames ripped through the house in Longfield Avenue on Tuesday evening at about 8pm. . . .

Cigarettes or cigars, lighters and matches are a major cause of accidental fires in the home A London Fire Brigade spokesman . . .

Visit the London Fire Brigade website to find ways of preventing cigarette fires.

Jump to full article »

• DEATHS SPARK 'SMOKING IN BED' WARNING 

Two women who died in separate fires on the same day had both been smoking in bed.

Fire investigators believe both blazes were caused when the women fell asleep before putting out their cigarettes.

Rita Jones, aged 65, died at her home at Meakin Court, in Newcastle Road, Stone, on Saturday evening. . . .

Meanwhile police have yet to formally identify another pensioner who died earlier that day, following a fire in Silver Close, Biddulph. . . .

Peter Dartford, chief fire officer for Staffordshire, warned people about the dangers of smoking in bed.

"To have two fatal house fires in one day is extremely rare," he said.

"We will carry on targeting vulnerable and elderly people with our home fire risk checks and we will continue to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking in bed."

Jump to full article »

Smoking started fatal Urbana fire  

The Saturday apartment fire that killed Brenda Beard was caused by carelessly discarded smoking materials in the living room of the apartment, the State Fire Marshal's Office reported today. . . .

There was an oxygen tank located in the apartment, but it does not appear to be a contributing factor in the fire.

Jump to full article »

Des Moines: Smoking materials caused deadly fire in Urbana 

State fire officials say an apartment fire in Urbana where a woman died last weekend was caused by smoking materials that were carelessly discarded in the living room.

Brenda Beard was injured in the fire last Saturday. The 54-year-old woman was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital where she later died of respiratory failure due to smoke inhalation.

Jump to full article »

Tooting Man Killed By Cigarette  

A Tooting man found in a bed which had caught fire was killed by a smouldering cigarette, an inquest heard last week.

Stephen Wachira, 46, of Ipswich Road, dropped the cigarette on to clothing surrounding the bed, causing the house fire that claimed his life on February 18.

A postmortem examintaion revealed signs of smoke inhalation suggesting Mr Wachira had died in his sleep as the room around him ignited.

When fire services arrived they found the first floor bedroom was locked from the inside and several cigarette butts, empty beer cans and vodka bottles were strewn across the floor.

Jump to full article »

Fire-safe cigarette bill on Henry's desk 

Legislation that would require retailers to sell only "fire safe" cigarettes in Oklahoma is awaiting Gov. Brad Henry's signature.

Its authors, Reps. Mike Thompson of Oklahoma City and Joe Dorman of Rush Springs, said Tuesday it will require cigarettes to comply with the state Fire Marshal's standards for being a fire-safe cigarette.

Jump to full article »

Arson Awareness Week aims to extinguish toy-like cigarette lighters 

LYNN - One day last June, 6-year-old Shane St. Pierre was browsing with his mother in a Livermore, Maine grocery store, while waiting for their sandwich order. The boy was naturally drawn to what he thought was a stack of miniature baseball bats near the cash register. Unaware that the devices were actually novelty cigarette lighters, the boy flicked the trigger and in a second his eyebrows were singed, his face burned.

The boy's father, Norm St. Pierre, a fire chief in nearby West Paris, was so disturbed by the incident he joined other advocates to ensure that toy-like lighters were banned in Maine, effective March 14, 2008. Tennessee officials followed suit in April, and bans are under consideration in Alabama, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont.

Fire safety officials say the frequency of such incidents is on the rise, which is why toy-like lighters are the focus of this year's Arson Awareness Week in Massachusetts. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan is urging parents, guardians and caregivers to protect themselves and their children from the dangers posed by these devices.

Jump to full article »

Careless smoking blamed in fire that killed 3 

Careless smoking near an overstuffed chair was the likely cause of a house fire that killed a mother and her two young daughters, fire officials said Wednesday.

Also, a smoke detector in the Fort Wayne was not working at the time of the Sunday morning fire that killed Debra Sallis, 23, and her daughters, 4-year-old Johniya Bennett and 5-year-old Johnae Bennett, firefighters said.

"The evidence is consistent with burning materials being dropped on the overstuffed chair," the Fort Wayne Fire Department statement said.

Jump to full article »

Smoking called fatal fire's cause 

Improperly handled smoking materials were the likely cause of the fire at a Bowser Avenue home Sunday morning that killed a mother and her two daughters, Fort Wayne Fire Department investigators said.

Fire investigators also found that a smoke detector inside the home did not sound because it did not have any batteries. According to a report released Wednesday, the fire department ruled the fire at 4747 Bowser Ave. accidental, probably the result of smoking materials dropped on a recliner in the living room.

Jump to full article »

SMOKING CLUE AFTER BLAZE KILLS WOMAN 

A Fire which killed an elderly woman may have been caused by her smoking in bed, say detectives.

The blaze in a first-floor bedroom in Silver Close, Biddulph, was initially treated as suspicious and police were called in to work alongside fire investigators. Firefighters from Burslem and Biddulph were called out to the incident at about 1am on Saturday. Officers wearing breathing apparatus smashed their way into the one-bedroom property, and pulled the woman, believed to be aged 82, out of the building, but she died of her injuries later in hospital.

Jump to full article »

Owings Mills: Two hospitalized after house fire  

A man and woman were taken to Northwest Hospital Center yesterday for treatment of injuries after the man's cigarette ignited an oxygen tank in his Owings Mills condominium, county fire officials said.

The fire began in a three-story building in the 9200 block of Groffs Mill Drive shortly after 2:30 p.m., and crews had it under control within about 10 minutes, fire officials said.

Jump to full article »

Cigarette sparks oxygen-tank fire in Owings Mills residence  

A man was taken to Northwest Hospital Center this afternoon for treatment of injuries after his cigarette ignited an oxygen tank in his Owings Mills condominium, Baltimore County fire officials said.

Jump to full article »

Woman clings to life in Chinatown fire horror 

A Chinatown woman was battling for life after firefighters pulled her out of her burning high-rise apartment, officials said.

The 59-year-old woman was asleep in her 10th-floor apartment in Knickerbocker Village on Monroe St. when a fire ignited at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. . . .

Fire marshals believe the blaze ignited after the woman's lit cigarette fell on paper products on the living room floor.

Jump to full article »