On October 15, 2007, the National Association of State Fire Marshals called a ban on the sale and use of novelty lighters during its annual meeting. Novelty lighters come in all shape or sizes and are made to look like a variety of toys such as cellular phones, toy cars, toy guns, and even rubber duckies.

Novelty lighters create serious problems for both parents and children. Although some novelty lighters meet standards for having a child-resistant mechanism that makes them difficult for children younger than age five to operate, their fun shapes and bright colors make them very attractive to young children.

There have already been reports of serious injuries in various states that include:

• In North Carolina, a six year old boy sustained second degree burns after playing with a toy cell phone lighter.
• In Maryland, three five year old girls set playground equipment on fire using a toy gun shaped lighter.
• In Oregon, one child died and another child suffered from permanent brain damage after a six year old started a fire with a toy dolphin lighter.
• In Arkansas, two young boys died after their apartment caught on fire after playing with a motorcycle-shaped lighter in which the flame came out of the exhaust pipe.
• In one other incident, a mother was severely burned after a child ignited the mother’s bed while playing with a Christmas tree lighter.

“There are no good reasons that lighters should be manufactured to resemble toys,” wrote Oregon state fire marshal, Nancy Orr, to the U.S. Consumer of Product Safety.

The European Union already banned the sale of novelty lighters in March 2007.

Source: Consumers Union, “Playing with fire: lighters that look like toys,”, October 15, 2007.