Don't waste your life!

A house burned down due to an unextinguished cigarette, or a citizen fell asleep while smoking and suffered thermal burns – these are cases that emergency workers encounter every day, caused by careless handling of fire while smoking. An unextinguished cigarette destroys homes and property, forests and dry vegetation burn, but these are not the most terrible consequences. A carelessly discarded cigarette butt can turn a person's life to ashes! To prevent fires and deaths from them, the campaign "Don't Burn Your Life Away!" is taking place in the republic from November 4 to 27.

It's no secret that 23.8% of the population in Belarus smokes, risking not only their health but also their homes due to an unextinguished cigarette butt. Such seemingly harmless actions "take out-smoke-throw away" can lead to a tragic chain: "lit up-drank-fell asleep." After causing smoldering, the cigarette butt itself goes out after a while, but the smoldering focus it created turns into a fire. Smoking combined with alcohol leads, at best, to smoke-stained walls and ceilings, and at worst, to the loss of a home or even death.

Smoking in bed is one of the main causes of fires and deaths in Belarus, but unextinguished cigarette butts thrown from upper floors pose no less a dangerous threat. Often, balconies and loggias serve as utility rooms where old clothes and flammable liquids are stored.

A smoking person puts not only themselves but also their loved ones at risk. The health consequences have long been known: passive smoking causes great harm to others, but a discarded cigarette butt can well bring trouble to residents of lower floors. An ashtray is not nuclear physics, and mastering the art of using it is as simple as can be. Remind your tobacco-loving neighbors about this and remember it yourself if you have become addicted to this harmful habit.

How to smoke safely (at least for the preservation of your life):

1. If you cannot give up tobacco yourself, do not throw cigarettes on the floor and do not smoke in bed;

2. Cigarette butts should be placed in a tin can filled with water. Forget the habit of throwing "butts" from the loggia or balcony;

3. Close windows on the balcony or loggia, and do not store flammable liquids there. Sometimes tidying up and not turning the balcony into a warehouse is a good solution not only for minimalism enthusiasts;

4. Install a fire alarm that will help notify you of a fire in time.

But remember! The best way to protect yourself from the consequences of tobacco is to quit smoking altogether. Do not forget that flying and drunken cigarette butts can cause crippled lives and broken destinies.