Ban sought on lighters that look like toys

TACOMA — Joe Meinecke calls it his $50,000 lighter.

Shaped like a miniature gun, it caused that amount of damage to a Tacoma family's home when a 4-year-old played with it and set a couch on fire.

Meinecke, a public educator with the Tacoma Fire Department, uses the novelty lighter as a demonstration when he teaches children and families about fire safety.

He supports an all-out ban on novelty lighters, which often are shaped like cartoon characters, cars or animals. He says they look too much like toys.

"In Tacoma, we have 31 fires every year set by kids, on average," Meinecke said. "If we could just eliminate these lighters altogether, then we'd be one step closer to eliminating the problem."

Meinecke could get his wish this year. A bill to ban novelty lighters is before the Washington Legislature. State lawmakers are asked to follow the lead of Maine and Tennessee, which passed novelty-lighter bans last year, and the European Union, which banned them in 2007.

The lighters often are sold in tobacco stores and sometimes appear near the check stands at grocery and convenience stores.

The Washington State Association of Fire Chiefs has made banning the lighters one of its 10 priorities for this year's legislative session.

"We have a significant problem with juvenile fire setters," said state Fire Marshal Mike Matlick. "Enhancing that problem with lighters that look like toys is not in the interest of public safety."

How prolific are these lighters? Visits to four convenience stores and three supermarkets in Spanaway, Pierce County, found none that sold novelty lighters at check stands.

Smoke shops in the area sold a wide range, however. A lighter at one tobacco shop looked like a pig wearing a baseball cap. It shot fire out the snout.

National numbers on how many fires are linked to novelty lighters won't be available until later this year, at the earliest. The National Fire Incident Reporting System, which tracks fire data nationwide, began collecting the data last January.

Bills in House, Senate

State Sen. Claudia Kauffman, D-Kent, said banning the lighters would be a common-sense measure to increase children's safety. She's sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, SB 5011.

"It's really to stave off any potential dangers that are out there for youth in such a confusing manner," Kauffman said.

She said one particularly dangerous example she saw was a novelty lighter shaped like a miniature camera.

"You put it up to your eye, and the flame comes out the top," Kauffman said, "and these lighters are displayed at the front counter of any convenience store."

A companion version of the bill, HB 1015, is moving forward in the House.

Neither bill proposes to ban disposable cigarette lighters or lighters printed with logos or other artwork. They instead focus on lighters that are shaped like toys, vehicles, food or other items that might appeal to children. Lighters that play music or have flashing lights would also be banned.

Some people in the novelty-lighter business think statewide prohibitions are overreaching.

John Gibson, owner of Gibson Enterprises, which imports and distributes novelty lighters, said keeping them out of children's hands should be parents' responsibility, not the state's.

"I think the first line of defense is the parent," said Gibson, whose company is based in San Luis Obispo, Calif. "A ban isn't going to solve all their problems. Are they going to ban matches, too?"

Still, Gibson said he's changing his business to adapt to a world in which novelty lighters aren't welcome. He's beginning to stop distribution of lighters that resemble toys, he said.

He's said he's even trying to patent a biometric lighter that can record a person's thumbprint and prevent anyone else from using it.

"We're converting our entire business in anticipation of these kind of problems," he said.

Hearing Wednesday

The House version of the bill is scheduled for a public hearing before the Committee on Commerce and Labor at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A hearing on the Senate version had been set for today but will be rescheduled, said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection. The committee will probably hear it next week, she said.

"It has some potential," Kohl-Welles said. "We'll see what comes out at the hearing."

Should the bill pass, distributors would have a 90-day period to dispose of their inventory after the law goes into effect.

After that, law-enforcement officers could seize and destroy any novelty lighters distributed in Washington.

Sellers could be fined between $500 and $10,000 daily for a violation, depending on the size of their operation. That money would go into a special fund to be used for fire-prevention and enforcement programs.