Smoking while on oxygen. Is it dangerous?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A fire in Frankfort is believed to have been started when a woman was smoking while on supplemental oxygen.

There have been other fires started due to the same reason.

Smoking, of any kind, with home oxygen tanks is a dangerous combination.

According to the Lexington Fire Department, cooking is the number one cause of house fires in the U.S., but 68 percent of home fire fatalities are related to smoking.

It sounds like common sense. Don’t smoke while on oxygen. The machines even come with warning labels, but as Dr. Ryan Stanton explains, they’re often ignored.

“The thing is, our world is inundated with warnings to the point where it’s almost a cry wolf society, where we have so many warnings that we ignore most of them,” said Dr. Stanton.

As with most warnings, this one is dangerous to ignore.

“When I hear smoking on supplemental oxygen, I think time bomb, because you’re adding two… actually all three of the sources associated with fire,” said Dr. Stanton. “You’ve got the fuel with cigarettes. You’ve got the heat when it’s being lit. You’ve got the oxygen.”

Stanton says the oxygen isn’t flammable by itself, but it helps fuel the fire.

“Like when you blow on a fire and it gets bright red and that heat builds up, that’s exactly what this does,” said Dr. Stanton. “You’re providing that oxygen to that source and giving it everything it needs to burn faster and hotter.”

Smoking while using oxygen puts you, and others around you, in danger.

In 2016, a man in Winchester did it, starting a fire that burned his entire apartment complex. Three people died, including his son. He was charged with manslaughter.

Dr. Stanton encourages those who smoke, and have to use supplemental oxygen, to find help.

“The best thing if you have to be on oxygen, and I know it’s difficult, I know it’s a challenge… try to get help to quit smoking… to completely quit smoking,” said Dr. Stanton.