- Author
- Boudreault, M. A. | Smith, L. E.
- Title
- Residential Fires in Mattressea and Bedding.
- Coporate
- Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC
- Keywords
- residential buildings | mattresses | bedding | fire investigations | ignition | smoke detectors | fire data | fire losses
- Identifiers
- national estimates; detector performance; first item ignited; age of mattress; location of ignition; age of person involved in ignition and ignition factors; involvement and performance of smoke detectors
- Abstract
- In spite of the 1973 Federal standard enacted to reduce mattress fires ignited by cigarettes, fires in which mattresses and bedding were the first items to ignite continue to be a major cause of U.S. fire deaths. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors involved in ignition of mattresses and bedding, and identify trends in bedding/mattress fires and fire losses. National fire data were evaluated to provide an overall picture of the magnitude of the problem. Investigations of fire incidents were conducted by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) field staff to provide more specific details of the interrelated factors involved.