SALEM — A ban on the sale of toy-like novelty lighters was approved by the Oregon House Wednesday after backers said the lighters pose a danger to children who can burn themselves and start fires with them.

During the House debate, a lawmaker who’s supporting the bill showed off several examples of the lighters that can be purchased at convenience stores and other businesses — including one that looks like a toy rubber duck but shoots a flame out of its head.

“Kids will play with fire. These are dangerous,” said Rep. Greg Matthews, a Gresham Democrat who also works as a firefighter for the Gresham fire department.

Maine and Tennessee ban the sale of such lighters, and 18 other states are considering similar laws. The Oregon ban, which was unanimously approved by the House, now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The legislation has the backing of acting State Fire Marshal Randy Simpson, who said there are several known instances of children starting fires with the novelty lighters and probably others that have gone unreported.

A toy lighter was linked to at least one deadly fire in Washington County in 2000 in which a 6-year-old boy was killed and another seriously injured when they found a lighter that looked like a toy dolphin and set a fire, Simpson said.

In another instance, a home in Umatilla was destroyed in 2003 when a 4-year-old found a lighter that looked like a toy horse. In 2005, he said, a Eugene women suffered serious burns when her 2-year-old set her bed on fire with a lighter that looked like a Christmas tree.

“It’s just wrong. There’s no reason any lighter should ever look like a toy,” Simpson said, adding that there are hundreds of such novelty lighters that look like everything from toy animals, to cell phones to farm tractors.

Supporters said the measure doesn’t outlaw possession of such lighters but instead seeks to keep them away from children in the future by making it illegal to sell or distribute the lighters.

“We’re not going to be able to take lighters that are currently out there out of people’s hands,” said Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene. “Our hope is that the lighters that are out there will become useless at some point, and then they will be gone forever.”

Under the bill, the state fire marshal’s office will keep a list of specific lighters that will be banned, a number that could reach into the hundreds, officials said.