South King Fire and Rescue is one of the fire departments working on banning novelty lighters.

The lighters, which often resemble a toy, can cause injuries when children mistakenly play with them.

Legislation, which is backed by the Washington Fire Chiefs, Washington Public Fire Educators and Harborview Burn Center, is likely to go to the floor at the state Capitol this session. It has already gone through a preliminary hearing in both the Senate and the House, and went through its first committee on Monday.

The lighters in question are those made to look like cars, animals or cartoon characters — anything that a young child might confuse for an actual toy.

“If it is predictable, it is preventable,” said Mike Brown, executive director of Washington Fire Chiefs, in a press release. “We have been fortunate here in Washington state, in that we have not had a child severely injured or die as a result of these devices, as the fire service has seen in Oregon and other states. Do we want to wait until that happens, then work to prevent future incidents? I would hope we all agree that one child’s future is not worth the risk.”

Lighters manufactured after July 1994 are required to be child resistant. However, this doesn’t always mean child-proof. Many of the novelty lighters do not meet the child resistant requirements.

The lighters in question are often sold at convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores, tobacco outlets and even fairs.

Fast facts

More than 70 million toylike lighters are imported into the United States each year.

The European Union banned the sale of toylike lighters in March 2007.

Source: Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal