JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fires kill about 3,000 Americans every year, according to federal death statistics, and researchers are finding that newer homes are burning faster than older ones -- and the results can be deadly.
Experts with UL LLC, formerly known as Underwriters Laboratories, discovered 30 years ago, families had an average of 17 minutes to get out of their homes after a fire started.
Today, their tests show people have just about three minutes to escape, which is 14 minutes less time to get to safety.. Among the factors, experts blame newer furniture and newer building supplies. So, because of the danger, News4Jax investigators conducted its own experiment. (Summary of UL research)
Fast moving fires
In just minutes, fire ripped through the Pointe Sienna Apartment complex on Jacksonville's Southside. And the 911 calls came pouring in.
"The apartment building it's burning like real bad right now!" said one frantic caller.
"As I'm running, the windows are busting, everything is just a big chaos, there's people running saying there's people in their houses, there's people in their houses," resident Kennisha Hogan said after the fire.
Hogan is one of 33 people who lost everything last month. Fortunately, everyone did escape with their lives.
"I'm literally watching everything in my house and everybody's house burn up, I can't do anything," Hogan said.
Newer home materials burn faster
Scientists at UL performed numerous tests at their lab in Northbrook, Illinois. They discovered that new homes, built in the 2000s, burn 8 times faster than older ones that were built in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2015, News4Jax experimented with building material. With the help of firefighters, journalists set fire to new wood beams, made from wood chips and glue, and solid wood beams, popular in older construction.
The modern composite beams burned, and failed, much faster than the traditional solid wood beams.
Furniture more flammable
News4Jax did another experiment, this time to see just how newer furniture can be more dangerous, too.
"They are designed to be lightweight, manufactured inexpensive, to be affordable which is all good and well until they start to burn," said Chief Sheldon Reed, director of Florida State College of Jacksonville's Fire Academy of the South.
News4Jax designed the experiment, working the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters, instructors at the Fire Academy of the South and Paul Davis Restoration. We built two identical rooms, complete with walls and roofs.
One room was filled with old furniture built 30 years ago, made from natural materials like wool, cotton and real wood.
The second room was filled with new furnishings. News4Jax purchased a brand new microfiber couch from a popular, brand-name furniture store. It was made with foam, plastic and all kinds of synthetic chemicals.
A firefighter started a small fire in a trash can next to each couch, and then we timed, watched and waited as each fire grew and spread.
Older furniture test
In the first room, filled with older furniture, the fire in the trash can smoldered for several minutes. After about five minutes, it spread to the side of the older couch. Within six minutes, thick gray smoke billowed out from the structure.
"A lot of flames there," Reed commented. "It's not a bunch of fire, but a heavier denser smoke is starting to come through."
As time progressed, the flames spread across the living room and the smoke got thicker. Within 13 minutes, most of the room was on fire.
Reed warns it would be hard for a person to survive in those conditions. Smoke made it very hard to see, and for safety, we made the choice to put the fire out.
New furniture test
News4Jax's experiment continued minutes later with the second room -- which was filled with the new furniture we purchased.
A firefighter lit another spark in the trash can and after just two minutes and forty seconds, we noticed the cloth chair was on fire. Within four minutes, black smoke took over the room.
"You can see the smoke is much darker, heavier," Reed said. "And it's much more toxic."
After six minutes, the flames took over the microfiber couch.
After seven minutes, the gases in the structure exploded. Fire swallowed the whole building. Every piece of furniture was in flames. Firefighters call this "flashover."
"Obviously nobody survives in that room," Reed said, as he backed up from the experiment.
Results of News4Jax's furniture fire test
In this experiment, the room with newer furniture burned twice as fast. That means people inside the home have half the time to escape. Jacksonville's fire union president Randy Wyse, a veteran first responder, was surprised.
"To see it happen that quick as related to that one was shocking," Wyse said.
Wyse warns smoke kills more people than the flames, and the smoke was much worse with the newer room.
"It's that much more bad stuff in the smoke that can hurt a person quicker," he added.
Get out alive
At this fire academy, local rescuers are training to get to your home faster, and they are learning the best ways to attack fast-spreading flames. But before they arrive, they say it's up to you to stay alive.
John Long, with the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters, said response time is key.
"First and foremost is calling 911, having a plan and getting out of the house," he said.
Long says getting out in time is the difference between life and death, and to do that, he says residents should install multiple smoke alarms in their homes.
He warns, one smoke alarm is not enough. He also recommends people place them near bedrooms and not to forget to change the batteries at least twice a year.
Long also suggests people keep furniture spread apart and cut down on the clutter. That will keep flames from spreading as quickly.
VIDEO: Safety tips in event of fire in home
If you are building a new home, firefighters advise people to install sprinkler systems inside. They automatically go off when flames or smoke are detected.
Sprinklers can also be retrofitted in homes that are already occupied. Experts say they may be expensive to install, but say they're well worth the money.
Print or view FEMA's Home Safety Checklist
American Home Furnishing Alliance statement
The American Home Furnishings Alliance supports research into how the materials that are used in home construction today – along with materials used in consumer products today -- impact fire safety in American homes. Research that helps homeowners become more aware of potential fire hazards and plan safe routes of escape in the event of a fire is essential. In addition, research that provides firefighters with knowledge to better address those fires is critical and worthwhile.
In 2012, scientists at UL (Underwriters Laboratory) designed a series of experiments that focused on the size and geometry of modern homes as well as current furnishings and building materials. The experiments tested three modern home configurations against three so-called “legacy” configurations containing furniture UL described as being similar to furniture made in the 1950s.
In the 1950s, better quality upholstered furniture was constructed using materials like feather-down cushions and hair-and-cotton padding. However, more affordable upholstery of the time would have likely contained less costly (and far less durable) fillings like moss, animal hair and course fiber matting.
In the 1970s, much of the upholstered furniture manufactured in the United States transitioned to polyurethane foam and other synthetic materials for cushions. Polyurethane foam is valued for its durability, affordability and hypoallergenic qualities. Furthermore, as the industry began researching ways to make upholstered furniture more fire-safe, polyurethane foam was found to help reduce the chance of ignition from a smoldering source.
This was important, because in all available data from the 1970s through today, the vast majority of home fires that involve upholstered furniture are ignited by a smoldering source. In 1978, the residential furniture industry established the Upholstered Furniture Action Council (UFAC), which subsequently released voluntary construction and material guidelines that combined to make furniture resistant to smolder ignition.
It is important to note that, although “legacy” furniture made around the 1950s may ignite more slowly than “modern” furniture when exposed to an open flame, it ignites faster than “modern” furniture containing polyurethane foam when exposed to a smoldering source -- which, again, is the most common ignition source in home fires involving upholstered furniture.
Over the past 25 years, the number of U.S. household fires involving upholstered furniture has been reduced by more than 88 percent. This dramatic reduction is attributed to:
- Industry compliance with the voluntary UFAC standard;
- Fewer smokers; and, most recently,
- Reduced ignition propensity (RIP) cigarettes.
Because of the positive results achieved by these industry and societal changes, AHFA has continued to advocate for a federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture based on smolder-resistance.
UFAC’s work followed the 1975 implementation of California Technical Bulletin 117, a mandatory standard for upholstered products sold in the state of California. In 2013, California updated TB 117, culminating a year-long effort to address growing concerns about consumer exposure to flame retardant chemicals. The revised standard, TB 117-2013, is based largely on the requirements and testing methodology within the UFAC standard, which can be met without the addition of flame retardants to the foam. AHFA recommends that consumers shopping for firesafe furniture look for the TB 117-2013 compliance label on upholstered products.
In October 2015, AHFA formally petitioned the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to adopt the upholstered furniture performance standards and flammability test methods prescribed by TB 117-2013 as a national, mandatory flammability standard for residential upholstered furniture.
Throughout nearly four decades of debate over how best to reduce the number of residential fires, especially those involving upholstered furniture, AHFA has steadfastly maintained the position that product modifications should be made only as they are proven safe, effective and affordable for the greatest number of consumers.
AHFA opposes increasing chemical risks to consumers as a solution to fires caused by “small open flame” ignition sources. The most common open flame sources seldom come in contact with upholstered furniture without careless or purposeful behavior, such as unsafe use of candles, children playing with matches or lighters, and arson.
Common sense dictates that these sources be addressed through education that discourages fire play and encourages installation and maintenance of working smoke detectors in the home – which are proven to be one of the most effective means for preventing injury and death from all types of residential fires, including those involving upholstered furniture."
Patricia Bowling, vice president of communications, Home Furnishings Alliance