VAPING massively reduces the risk of house fires, a new report by the fire services has revealed.
Not only is it better for your health, experts now say making the switch to vaping is a far better option in terms of personal safety after burning cigarettes have been blamed for 22 blazes a week in the UK and eight deaths in the past 12 months in the capital alone.
Data by the Fire Brigade also reveals 5,978 fires have been linked to smoking in the past five years in London with 416 people injured and a shocking 76 people losing their life.
It has now advised smokers to make the switch to vaping saying it is far safer in terms of a person's own fire risk, with only 20 blazes caused by e-cigarettes in the same period.
The fires were sparked either by a broken device or an e-cigarette being charged by a faulty charger.
Dan Daly, the Brigade's Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, said: "So many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented by either stopping smoking or by switching to vaping."
"We would rather people didn't smoke at all but if they do, vaping is a safer option. There is a common misconception that vapes are a fire risk but the reality is they have caused a very small number of fires normally because the device is broken or it's being charged by a faulty charger. Smoking on the other hand is a killer."
Common causes of smoking related fires are people falling asleep while smoking or discarding cigarette butts or matches that have not been properly extinguished.
Although four times as many people smoke as they do vape, there were almost 300 times more smoking related fires in London than those caused by e-cigarettes since 2013.
Vapers have been urged, however, to take extra care not to leave their e-cigarettes on charge when they are not at home or asleep and ensure the correct charger is used. Advice also includes to never charge an e-cigarette if it's damaged.
Prominent pro-vaper Clive Bates said of the news on social media site Twitter: "Crude estimate: smoking is 75 times more likely than vaping to cause fires based on data from London Fire Brigade. That suggests vaping poses 98.7% lower fire risk... and vaping should get less risky over time with improved awareness and better designs."
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