Change in the incidence of fires after prohibiting sales of non-child-resistant lighters

Abstract

We aimed to examine the potential change in the incidence of fires caused by children playing with a lighter after prohibiting the sale of non-child-resistant lighters in Japan in September 2011. We conducted a controlled interrupted time series analysis using the national data of fires attended by fire departments that were determined to be caused by children under 14 years in Japan, from 1998 to 2017. The main outcome measure was the monthly fire incidence ratio of the number of fires caused by playing with a lighter in each month to that caused by playing with a heat source that does not require a lighter to light up, such as matches and electric appliances, in the same month. During the study period, there were 33,596 fires caused by children under 14. The fire incidence ratio showed a sharp decline immediately after the sale of non-child-resistant lighters was prohibited in September 2011, and continued to decrease for several years. The extent of this decrease was similar for the immediate and medium-term decreases. These decreases resulted in −2986 (95% confidence interval: −3983, −2246) fires from September 2011 to December 2017.