TRENTON - Starting Sunday, cigarettes that don’t self-extinguish when no one puffs on them will not be sold in New Jersey, the state Department of Community Affairs announced Friday.

The new rule is part of a fire-safety law passed by the Legislature and signed into law in May 2007.

Improper use of smoking material caused 204 house fires in New Jersey in 2006 and accounted for 14 percent of all civilian fire fatalities, according to the DCA Division of Fire Safety.

The new cigarettes will put themselves out if no one takes a puff, thus reducing the risk of fires caused when a smoker falls asleep with the tobacco still lit, said DCA Commissioner Joseph Doria.