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A resident of an RV resort in Oceano lost her home and was injured Saturday afternoon when her trailer caught fire because she was smoking a cigarette while changing an oxygen tank, authorities said.
Velma Selnik, 55, who had lived at the Pacific Dunes Ranch for about eight years, suffered second-and third-degree burns to 9 percent of her body, according to County/Cal Fire Investigator Andy Andersen.
She had been smoking while changing an oxygen cylinder used to treat her asthma
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Phoenix watched other dogs bark, jump and play at the sixth annual Stomp, Romp & Wag festival at Colorado State University.
The festival raises awareness of the dangers that secondhand smoke poses to pets, including increased rates of lung and oral cancers, allergies and skin ailments. The college-age population has the highest rate of smoking, according to health officials.
"Secondhand smoke is a horrible thing," said CSU junior Reed Nelson, as he walked Phoenix away from the free doggie massage tent. "It's depressing that people would subject their pet to it."
Last year's fair drew about 1,000 people and about 250 dogs, and this year's event looked like it was proving even more popular, organizers said.
The event is organized by CSU's Hartshorn Health Service through a smoking-prevention grant.
A FIRE which killed a woman in her first floor flat may have been started by a lit cigarette.
Yesterday, police named the victim of the fire in Darlington on Tuesday evening as 49-year-old Pauline Nixon. . . .
Ms Nixon, who had one daughter, lived alone, except for two parakeets and a miniature Yorkshire Terrier.
The birds were found dead in the flat.
A fire in a two-family home on Wright Avenue yesterday afternoon was started by improper disposal of a cigarette, acting Deputy Fire Chief Christopher W. Norris said today.
It appears a resident of the building threw a cigarette off the back deck of 3-5 Wright Ave., a side street between Pleasant and Conz streets not far from downtown, and it ignited a pile of bark mulch and wood chips which spread quickly to the two-story deck and into the house, Norris said.
"This goes hand and hand with us issuing a press release on Monday about the dry conditions and not to have any open burning," Norris said. "Improperly disposing of a cigarette like that is the same thing."
Two cats were apparently killed in the fire and the building is expected to be torn down.
Fire officials believe careless smoking caused a Port Credit high-rise blaze that killed two cats on Monday morning.
The fire broke out at about 11:30 a.m., at an apartment complex at 55 Park St. E. . . .
Fire inspectors believe a cigarette left burning in a plastic tray, while the tenants of the apartment went out, caused the blaze.
NEW PORT RICHEY - The fire that destroyed a couple's home, sent the husband to a Tampa hospital and killed the family dog Monday was caused by someone smoking in bed, Pasco County Fire Marshal Larry Whitten said.
Overland Park fire officials said today that careless smoking caused a fatal duplex fire that killed a woman and her dog on Easter Sunday.
Officials said Bonnie J. Franz, 58, and her pet died in a blaze that broke out about 4:30a.m. at her residence at 9014 W. 78th Circle. Franz and another person, both smokers, lived at the residence but she was the only one home at the time of the fire, said Overland Park fire spokesman Jason Rhodes.
A tortoise who enjoys a good smoke has been discovered in northeast China's Jilin Province, a local newspaper reported.
The smoking tortoise is the pet of a Chinese man surnamed Yun from Yongji County. He has kept the animal as a pet for nearly four years, according to the City Evening News.
Yun, himself a smoker, one day teased the tortoise by putting a cigarette butt into its mouth. To his surprise, it smoked, the paper said. From then on, he often shared his cigarettes with his pet.
tortoise that smokes and appears to be addicted to nicotine has been discovered in China's northeastern province of Jilin, state media reported on Thursday.
The animal is the pet of a man, identified by his surname Yun, who is himself a smoker, Xinhua news agency said, quoting a local newspaper.
Careless smoking is the preliminary cause of a house fire Wednesday that killed a 54-year-old disabled woman, fire officials said today.
The woman suffered from multiple sclerosis, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
To mark national No Smoking Day, a leading veterinary today urged pet owners not to expose their furry friends to cigarette fumes.
PDSA says people who smoke near their pets are putting them at risk.
Research shows that cats exposed to second-hand smoke are twice as likely to develop feline lymphoma and dogs can suffer from smoking-related respiratory problems.
A family escaped their burning home early today, but a pet dog perished in the blaze.
Jack Goldhorn, a spokesman for Norfolk Fire & Rescue, said the fire in the 1200 block of Whaley Ave. was reported about 1:30 a.m. . . .
Later in the morning investigators determined the fire was caused by discarded smoking materials.
A family escaped from a house fire in Norfolk early this morning, but their dog died in the blaze.
Fire department spokesman Jack Goldhorn said the fire on Whaley Avenue was reported around 1:30 a.m. He said an undetermined number of family members escaped from the house, but they were unable to rescue the family pet.
Fire investigators determined that the fire was accidentally started with a carelessly discarded cigarette. It was the third major house fire in the area this week to have been caused by a discarded cigarette.
Environmental groups said smoking is generally bad for humans and the environment.
According to the Ecowaste Coalition, cigarette is not only harmful to the body's health but it is also causes damage to the environment.
The indiscriminate throwing of cigarette butts as 30 million Filipinos puff tobacco products and just throw them in places that can endanger both humans and animals.
"Butts may look small but the quantity of carelessly thrown butts in the environment can pose real toxic threats to humans and wildlife," the group said. . . .
The discarded butts also leach toxic chemicals into the water and soil as they corrode into tiny plastic powder.
These things are also carried by the wind and rain to rivers and oceans where birds and fishes mistake them for food. Littered butts contribute to sediment pollution.
Data from the Ocean Conservancy showed . . .
Ecowaste said cigarette filters could lead to digestive blockages when ingested by animals because of toxic chemicals they contain like arsenic, cadmium, and lead.
As a graduate of the UCLA School of Public Health, I am dismayed to learn of Philip Morris funding being accepted for tobacco research. The professed naivete of the undoubtedly qualified scientist and UCLA officials is more troubling. A modicum of research would show them that the only reason the tobacco industry takes such actions is to increase profits -- which necessitates addicting people.
The industry's motive is far from "immaterial," as UCLA's vice chancellor for research must know -- it's called the profit motive. It will taint any published research that might result from this work.
--Roberto Peccei / Vice Chancellor for Research UCLA, Westwood