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Cigarette sparks pub shelter fire
FIREFIGHTERS rushed to a smoking shelter that was ablaze outside a pub.
The blaze started yesterday morning after someone threw a burning cigarette into a wooden plant pot.
It is the first fire in an outdoor smoking area in the region since the smoking ban came into force on July 1.
Two fire crews from Copnor rushed to the Baffins pub, Tangier Road, Baffins, at 6am and spent 10 minutes putting the fire out.
Crew manager Jason Brattle said: 'We are pretty sure a stray cigarette caused it. It's the first fire we've had due to the law changing and people smoking outside.'
The wooden plant pot the cigarette was dropped into was destroyed and the shelter was damaged by smoke.
Venues should ensure ashtrays are provided to ensure cigarettes are put out safely, said Copnor fire station watch manager Graham Sedge.
'Smokers should use a proper ashtray. I would have thought a proper ashtray would have been provided, or a bucket of sand.
'So long as people dispose of their cigarette butts correctly there shouldn't be a problem. I think time will tell if the smoking law results in fewer fires inside premises.'
Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: 'If people are using any premises, whether it's an outbuilding or inside, they should make sure they dispose of their smoking materials properly, and make sure they put out cigarettes before they leave them.
'There's always a chance with people popping in and out of pubs that they could be less careful than they might have been.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
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