Tempurpedic

Even at Christmas time, some homes are not spared from accidents caused by mattress fire. But as these homeowners learn, throwing snow at the burning mattress isn’t enough to keep the fire from damaging property further. In fact, snow doesn’t put it out.

Firefighters arriving at a home on King Edward Street just before 10 p.m. Sunday found the homeowner had used a ladder to carry snow into a second-floor bedroom in an attempt to extinguish a smouldering mattress.

“I guess they discovered a fire in the mattress and they were trying to use the snow to put the fire out,” said district fire chief Terry Gardiner.

New mattress standards will go in effect today, July 1st, in the USA. Will neighboring Canada follow suit? Exporters from that area are complying with the current USA laws but locally, the move to amend it remains unchanged:

This is a press release from the CPSC or the US Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Mattresses manufactured in or imported into the United States on or after July 1, 2007 must meet the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) flammability standard. The mandatory standard is designed to reduce the severity of mattress fires ignited by open flame sources such as candles, matches and lighters.CPSC estimates that, once fully effective, the new federal flammability standard will prevent as many as 270 deaths and 1,330 injuries every year.

CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord calls the new standard an important layer of fire protection in the home.

Violet Township Fire Department, based in Ohio, took three kinds of mattresses out for testing — one made in 2002, another made after the revised July 2007 mattress standard implementation; and still another with a product called Fire Defender mixed into the material. The result?

The fire did not appear to penetrate the new mattress at about 7 minutes into the fire. The one with the protective cover also contained the flames. At about nine minutes, flames leaping from the old mattress were almost out of control

Press release from Flex-A-Bed, with regards to its compliance to the new mattress safety guidelines.

Flex-A-Bed’s craftsmen have built every Flex-A-Bed adjustable bed using the same guiding principles of care and consideration since 1969 in LaFayette. However, they differ from every big name bed manufacturer as they are the only company that produces both their own mattresses and base units in the same factory. They oversee every aspect, every stitch and every piece that leaves their production line.

It pays to be in the know and to be aware of what is going on, especially when this is an issue that will affect you and your family’s safety.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has published a consumer brochure highlighting the new mattress flammability standards that go into effect July 1. The tri-fold brochure, “Sleep Safer,” explains the reasons the agency adopted the new standards and offers a half-dozen safety tips to further reduce mattress fires.

It’s another one of those fires that is due to someone else’s carelessness. On the bright side though, nobody was injured in this incident.

A mattress fire at 117 Ave.- South caused about $15,000 worth of damage to the home Thursday. At around 6 a.m., the residents were awakened by smoke detectors and managed to get out of the building before fire crews arrived. The first fire engine arrived at the scene in less than four minutes after the call and quickly gained control of the blaze. Firefighters remained on the scene for about an hour, ventilating smoke from the home. The fire was caused when a resident of the home fell asleep while smoking, the fire department says. No injuries were reported.