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Fire Prevention -
Serta Fire Blocker Mattresses
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Sadly, according to the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA), more than 700 people in the
United States die in bedroom fires each year. Part
of the problem is the growing popularity of candles
for aromatherapy and the increased use of
electronics, such as computers and televisions, in
bedrooms. Unfortunately, children playing with
matches and lighters remain a serious hazard as
well. Serta mattresses with FireBlocker™ are
designed to decrease tragic deaths from mattress
fires by giving families extra time to escape a fire
unharmed.
Time is Life
When it comes to bedroom fires, time is life.
Unfortunately, most people grossly overestimate the
time it takes a fire to spread and grow — and harm
your family. In less than three minutes a small
flame can get completely out of control and begin to
turn into a major fire.
Real fires are not like those seen in the movies,
where the flames light up a room and the smoke is
thin and gray. In real life it only takes minutes
for thick black smoke to fill a house. The black
smoke creates total darkness, making escape
difficult even in rooms and hallways you may know
well. The smoke can fill your lungs with toxic gases
and ash, creating a life-threatening situation well
before the fire even reaches you.
In addition to the smoke, a fire’s heat alone can
kill — in several minutes a room can get so hot that
the entire room will burst into flames. This is
called “flashover.” Flashover can happen extremely
fast when the mattress and bedding burn
simultaneously. Testing has shown that flashover
(which happens between 900 to 1,000 kilowatts of
heat) can occur in as little as three minutes. Serta
mattresses with FireBlocker do not even reach 200
kilowatts of heat after 30 minutes of burning. This
system of protection virtually eliminates the chance
of flashover and gives families more time to escape
to safety.
Without FireBlocker, a mattress ignited by a
small flame becomes a roaring fire in less than
three minutes
Insert time lapse of mattress without
FireBlocker burning to demonstrate how little time
you have to get out
Facts & Stats on Home & Mattress Fires
As with many tragedies, most people think, “It
can’t happen to me.” But statistics don’t lie — home
fires happen to people every day. Consider the
following alarming facts: |
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Each year, home fires claim the lives of 2,875
Americans and injure approximately 15,880 people.
There are approximately 370,000 home fires, 49,000
of which start in the bedroom (13.3%). (NFPA)
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Approximately 730 people die in bedroom fires each
year, with another 4,275 injured. Bedroom fires
account for nearly $1 billion in property damage
($917.9 million). (NFPA)
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Fire kills more Americans each year than all natural
disasters combined. (USFA)
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Most fire fatalities occur between 10 p.m. and 6
a.m., and more than 50 percent of all fire victims
were asleep at the time of the fire. (USFA)
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Fire ranks as the number one cause of death for
children under the age of 15 at home. (NFPA)
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The number of candle fires is at an all-time high,
with the largest number occurring in the bedroom (45
percent). (NFPA)
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Deaths caused by candle-related fires in homes
increased 750 percent from 1980 to 1998. (CPSC)
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California Legislation
The two main ignition sources for mattress fires are
cigarettes and open flames, such as candles, matches
and lighters. In 1973, federal standards were
implemented that required mattresses to resist
ignition by smoldering cigarettes. That standard
contributed to a significant drop in bedroom fires.
However, the number of mattress fires caused by
open-flame sources continued to increase. To this
day, no federal regulation exists to better protect
consumers from mattress fires caused by open flames.
However, California has made this commitment to
saving lives by developing a new standard, and it is
the first state to do so.
After Jan. 1, 2005, all residential mattresses, box
springs and futons manufactured for sale in
California must be open-flame resistant. Serta’s
FireBlocker system of open-flame resistant
protection meets all requirements of California’s
mattress flammability standard, called “Technical
Bulletin 603.” To ensure the safety of all
Americans, Serta is including FireBlocker in its
2004 mattress line.
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