Volume 3   Issue  37                      December   2004

                 

New Measures for Mattress Safety
WCBS, NY December 9, 2004

When you pick out a mattress, you probably look for comfort, but what about the safety of mattresses? Hundreds of people die in mattress fires every year. There are pictures that bring back lots of scary memories for the Boucher family after a faulty electrical cord caught their mattress on fire. "I still don't like to think about it now but if my sons would have been in bed I would have lost all three of my sons," says one Boucher family member. They were lucky.

Roughly 500 people die from mattress or bedding fires every year. A common chemical used in the foam is highly flammable and as one video shows within minutes can turn most mattresses into a flaming disaster. For example, in a demonstration, a firefighter lit one mattress to show how fast it can burn and the material in the mattress actually went up pretty fast.

Now the federal government wants to slow down the flames by requiring manufactures to use more fire resistant material. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is meeting on Thursday to discuss new regulations that will force manufacturers to use a more fire-retardant material. Firefighter Phil Champagne says that extra time will allow more people to escape. "It will protect citizens obviously and also firefighters because there's less of a chance of structural collapse as a result of these fires," says Champagne.

Serta already manufactures a fireblocker mattress that is more fire-resistant but with a five percent mark-up, salesmen say demand is low. Right now, the fireblocker mattress runs five percent more. For example, If you saw a bed that's $199 dollars, it may be $229 dollars which is a $30 dollar difference. However, the Boucher's say it's a price worth paying. "It's very scary, very frightening and very fast, " says one Boucher family member.

Starting January first, California will be the first state in the country to have a fire safety standard for mattresses. The federal government wants to set a similar standard for upholstered furniture.
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