- Author
-
Damant, G. H.
|
Nurbakhsh, S.
- Title
- Heat Release Tests of Mattresses and Bedding Systems. Part 1. Full Scale Fire Tests.
- Coporate
- Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, North Highlands, CA
- Report
-
Part 1,
October 1991,
146 p.
- Keywords
-
mattresses
|
bedding
|
heat release
|
large scale fire tests
|
legislation
|
public buildings
|
fire risk
|
fire hazards
|
fire models
|
fire tests
- Identifiers
- California Technical Bulletin 133; HAZARD I
- Abstract
- During the late 1960's the Federal Government began consideration of mattress flammability. It did so in response to concerns raised by the firefighting community, consumer groups and state governments regarding deaths and injuries resulting from mattress fires, particularly as a result of carelessly discarded cigarettes. The most common mattress product built during that period contained large quantities of untreated cotton batting filling, and was usually covered by a cotton fabric ticking. When ignited, cotton products tended to smolder for long periods of time and were often difficult to extinguish. Firefighters typically complained that after leaving the scene of a fire, following the extinguishment of a household mattress fire, cotton batting mattresses would often re-ignite, causing a second alarm. As more and more statistical data were developed, it was determined that a measure or test standard for mattress flammability was needed to reduce and control the risk of mattress fires. Therefore, in 1970 the United States Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register, a "Notice of Finding that a Flammability Standard may be needed for Mattresses". This finding was published pursuant to the 1967 amendments to the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA), which broadened the scope of the original 1953 FFA, to include various articles of furnishings.