Doesn’t it sometimes feel like the vaping industry is under constant attack? Big Tobacco, the FDA, and those who feel as though vaping could potentially serve as a gateway to teenage smoking are constantly trying to tell the world about all of the things that they think are bad when it comes to vaping.

Despite studies that suggest otherwise and seem to indicate that vaping could ultimately be used to help people quit smoking regular cigarettes, which would obviously save a lot of lives in the long run, vaping critics are very vocal about why they believe it should be outlawed in the United States.

One of the tough things about this is that, at the moment, vapers’ hands are tied when they attempt to prove critics wrong. As we mentioned, there are studies that suggest that vaping could one day be very beneficial for millions of people, but there is still a lot of research to be done with regards to vaping.

So those who support vaping are often forced to deal with the criticism that is lobbed their way. They need to be patient and wait for studies to provide them with evidence that shows vaping can actually help people.

It does appear as though there is at least one big benefit of vaping that a lot of people, including vaping critics, aren’t considering right now. That benefit? That vaping is helping cut down on the number of smoking-related fires that take place every year.

One Minnesota fire marshal even spoke up on behalf of vaping during a recent interview and said that he thinks there is a direct correlation between the rise of vaping in some communities and the decrease in fires caused by regular cigarettes. It’s a win for vaping and shows that vaping can potentially be beneficial in more ways than one!

The Dangers of Smoking-Related Fires

While you might not necessarily realize this, fires caused by cigarettes have actually been a huge issue for homeowners for years now. Back in 2006, the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes did an extensive study that highlighted the problem.

According to the study, home fires caused by cigarettes kill between 700 and 900 people every single year, which makes them the leading cause of home fire fatalities. Additionally, home fires that start as a result of cigarettes result in millions of dollars worth of property damage every year.

At the time, the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes pointed out that home fires caused by cigarettes were on the decline, since most of the furniture and mattresses that are sold in the U.S. are now fire resistant. But cigarettes still pose a huge home fire risk, and the longer a person smokes, the more likely they are to be involved in a home fire that starts due to a cigarette.



Fires that are ignited by cigarettes affect more than just homes and homeowners, too. In the past, fire inspectors have found cigarettes to blame for huge fires that have affected entire countries. For example, back in 1999, a single lit cigarette that was thrown from a vehicle started a fire inside of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which runs between France and Italy.

That fire claimed the lives of 39 people and caused more than $1 billion in damage. These types of fires are, thankfully, pretty rare. But whenever you have millions of people walking around discarding lit cigarettes on the ground, there is going to be a potential for fires to start. It’s a risk that comes along with smoking.

How Vaping Cuts Down on the Risk of Smoking-Related Fires

At this time, there haven’t been many widespread studies done on how exactly vaping is having an impact on the reduction of smoking-related fires. It’s actually a benefit that many people hadn’t considered.

But while speaking with MPR News recently, Bruce West, a Fire Marshal in Minnesota, said that his state is currently recording the lowest rate of annual fire deaths ever. And while he wasn’t able to say for sure why that is, he thinks it has everything to do with vaping.

In 2016, there have been just 24 fire deaths in the state of Minnesota, which represents a drop of more than 50 percent. It’s obviously a small sample size, but West sounds confident that vaping is having a positive impact in his state when it comes to cutting down on deaths related to fires.

“People either quitting smoking or moving to vaping, that could be one of the underlying reductions in [the 2016 numbers],” he told MPR News. “That’s something that we will definitely take a look at.”

It will be interesting to see what West and the state of Minnesota find when they look back over their total number of fire deaths at the end of the year. If the rates remain low, vaping could very well prove to be the reason.

Why This Is Great News for the Vaping Industry

Many public officials have been hesitant to speak positively about vaping in the past, due to the stigma that is sometimes attached to it. But by saying what he said about vaping, West shed some light on the fact that there is at least one big benefit to vaping, even if you aren’t sold on the potential health benefits just yet.

That benefit is something that other states and the government as a whole should investigate. Because if vaping is bringing down the number of fire deaths across the country, that’s certainly something that should be celebrated by all.

This is a win for vaping because it shows that we’ve only just started to understand the different ways in which vaping could possibly help people. In the coming months, years, and decades, there will hopefully be even more benefits to share—both those connected to public safety and those connected to the health of individuals who vape.

Let’s just hope people continue to keep an open mind about vaping so that these benefits can come to light. They will likely show that vaping is not as bad as some people out there might lead you to believe.

