Law mandates new cigarettes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Firefighters said a new measure could save the lives of smokers and people around them.

A new law signed by Gov. Sarah Palin today means that only fire-safe cigarettes can be sold in Alaska starting next year.

The Anchorage Fire Department is very happy about the development. Officials said it means house fires may decrease by up to 35 percent.

According to AFD, an unattended cigarette starts a fire once a week.

AFD Chief Craig Goodrich said he supports the law.

"There is no such thing as a safe cigarette, but if you're going to smoke this is as safe as you can get. So, we're thrilled to death the law has been enacted," Goodrich said.

Palin's approval of Senate Bill 84 means this time next year stores can only sell fire-safe cigarettes. The cigarettes are designed so if you're not actively smoking them, they go out. The paper burns like a cigar.

"Usually what happens is people forget them. They think they put them out, they don't snub them out they just throw them into an old potted plant," Goodrich said.

AFD said cigarettes are the leading cause of home fires in the United States, with up to 900 people dying a year.

Mark Masley with the Tobacco Cache of Alaska said the new law comes with draw backs for smokers.

"Really, the objections people are raising to it is, is there sufficient product? Are they going to make enough of those cigarettes to deliver to the marketplace and if so at what cost? At what price? Obviously if you deliver a higher cost cigarette they're going to squawk about that," Masley said.

Masley did say there are perks to the cigarettes.

Fire-safe cigarettes are safer and since they don't keep burning, smokers might end up saving money instead of watching their cash go up in smoke.

"It's nice for the cigarette companies to sell more cigarettes. If you have one that burns to the filter, then they're going to sell more product," Masley said.

Alaska isn't the first state to have fire safe cigarettes; we're now one of 13 other states.

Officials said cigarettes are blamed in almost one out of every four fire deaths in Alaska during the past decade.