The Roof, the Roof, the (Dorm) Roof Is On Fire

Continuing the nation's War on Smokers, North Carolina is pushing for a law that would require smokers to puff only fire-safe cigarettes, which are constructed to self-extinguish at certain intervals along the stick, Duke's Chronicle reports. Legislators hope the law would decrease the number of fires caused by cigarettes.

Youngsters, however, aren't too happy about the work-intensive lung daggers. "It's a pain in the butt to relight," complains one student, who seems unaware of his awesome pun.

North Carolina's concerns are supported by a national fire prevention watch group, which says that dorm fires are on the rise, the Chronicle of Higher Education's news blog reports. But college housing officials warn of inflated numbers, pointing out that the number of students in dorms has also increased, along with the prevalence of apartment- or suite-style housing.

Cooking fires accounted for 72 percent of the incidents, while bedroom fires, often caused by cigarettes or candles, were rarer but more dangerous, leading to 6 percent of incidents but 67 percent of deaths and 29 percent of injuries. —Alison Go