WASHINGTON COUNTY - Careless smoking is one of the leading causes of fatal fires nationally, said Mike Weller, Life Safety Educator for Hagerstown Fire Department.
"It is so deadly," Weller said of careless smoking, listed Thursday by the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office as the cause of a Sunday fire in Keedysville that killed three area teenagers.
Weller said if people do smoke, they should do so as safely as possible by smoking outside. Ashes should be discarded into a covered metal container, and preferably wet down, he said.