Smoking ban helps reduce fires in Beijing

A new smoking ban introduced in Beijing since May 1 that covers public places including hotels and parks has cut the number of fires in the city sparked by cigarette butts by more than half, fire authorities have said.

In the first week of this month, the Beijing fire brigade put out eight cigarette-related fires, an average of 1.14 per day, the Beijing Fire Control Bureau said in a press release on Saturday.

The new daily average was less than half of what was reported in the first four months of this year, when the city's firefighters had to put out 325 fires caused by cigarette butts, or 2.7 per day, it said.