Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Fire prevention education begins at an early age, with children taught not to play with lighters and matches. But how do you teach children the difference between toys and lighters, when lighters are made to resemble a toy?
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
NOVELTY LIGHTERS designed to look more like children’s toys have firefighters at the Presque Isle Fire Department urging the public to keep them out of the reach of children. Sold at various stores throughout the state, the lighters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from ladybugs and rockets to helmets and jack-o-lanterns. Here, Grant Spinney, a firefighter with the PIFD, shows how what appears to be a child’s small jack-o-lantern actually is a functioning lighter. As Fire Prevention Month comes to an end, officials hope adults will keep these novelties far from little hands.
The Presque Isle Fire Department has taken on the task of educating the public – not just children – on the growing number of lighters now on the market that are made in the shape of everything from a football helmet and tiny hand grenade to a ladybug and jack-o-lantern. One firefighter recently purchased several of the lighters from area businesses with the intent of using them to teach children and their guardians on what to watch out for.
“We’ve spent years telling kids lighters are tools not toys. But that’s not the case any more,” said Grant Spinney, a firefighter with the PIFD. “This contradicts everything we teach.”
Spinney purchased about a dozen from a couple area businesses recently and advised the stores’ owners that such products were geared to attract children and suggested they be taken off the shelves to prevent them from getting in the wrong hands.
Spinney said he spent an average of $5 per lighter.
“I spoke with the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Officials indicated the State Legislature during its next session was hoping to pass a bill to ban all novelty lighters in Maine,” said Spinney. “The ones I purchased resemble prizes or kids’ meal toys. Not one is child-resistant.”
Spinney said all of the items were right at eye level, visible to children as they walked past the counter. But it’s not so much the way they’re displayed in the store that bothers Spinney as what happens when a lighter makes it into a home with a child.
“I’m more concerned with adults buying them and leaving them laying around where children can get ahold of them,” said Spinney.
What makes these novelty lighters even worse, according to Spinney, is some come with an added danger.
“Some are a double whammy. Some lighters come with knives. Or they have flashlights that attract kids’ attention. Both create flames. It’s a deadly combination when one of these lighters ends up in a child’s hands,” he said.
The PIFD is working with area businesses to remove the lighters voluntarily.
“We’re trying to have a cooperative ban within the city limits to have all stores agree to not sell the novelty lighters,” said Spinney.
Spinney hoped, if nothing else, this would serve as a public notice to parents and guardians to keep these novelties out of a child’s reach.
“This is more of a public notice to adults – keep them (the lighters) out of reach if you’re determined to have one. And make sure children know they’re not toys. Keep them out of reach and sight,” said Spinney.
Spinney said he hoped Maine would follow Europe’s lead in banning such products.
“The continent of Europe has banned them. Maine isn’t the only state trying to ban. Maine isn’t the only state to find they pose a threat,” said Spinney.
While fire departments everywhere are trying to crack down on kinds playing with fire, lighters such as these make it ever more difficulty to succeed.
“This is adding fuel to the fire – no pun intended,” said Spinney. “Statistically, about 100,000 fires are started yearly by children playing with lighters or matches. The majority of those kids are under 5 years old, with one-quarter of the fires starting in the living room or bedroom – typically on mattresses.”
He’s hopeful that citizens will make their concerns known to the owners of the stores such items are sold at.
“The public needs to make store owners aware of their concerns. It’s up to the public and patrons to stand up and reject such products,” said Spinney. “Everything about them (the lighters) attracts a child, from the lights to the sounds. It’s up to adults to get rid of them and stop buying them.”
For more information on fire prevention, visit the National Fire Protection Association’s Web site at www.nfpa.org, or contact your local fire department.
The PIFD can be reached at 769-0881. The department regularly visits schools and organizations, teaching fire prevention safety.
