Firefighter Safety Alert Bulletin
In March 1999, the NASFM and the IAFF jointly issued the Safety Alert Bulletin “Upholstered Furniture Fires,” alerting firefighters to the dangers they will encounter when responding to upholstered furniture fires in residences and retail furniture outlets. It encourages fire departments to conduct prefire inspections on facilities that sell and store upholstered furniture within their jurisdictions.
The IAFF distributed the Bulletin to approximately 700 attendees at its Legislative Conference, held in Washington, DC, in March. The IAFF is encouraging its members to participate with state fire marshals in the prefire planning and inspection programs in their respective states.
Among “The Precautions” for fire departments listed in the Bulletin are the following:
Review the list of furniture retail outlets in your district–individual furniture store showroom and department stores with furniture sections–to determine if they are equipped with fire sprinklers.
If not, prepare prefire attack plans accordingly, considering the large amounts of polyurethane cushioning materials and the material`s ability to release large amounts of combustion energy in a very short time.
When preparing the plan, determine if adequate exits are available for the expected occupancy load. Ensure that they are clearly marked and accessible should a fire occur during store hours.
vWhen preparing the plan, determine if there is adequate aisle spacing for exiting to accommodate the expected occupant load.
Determine if retail store personnel have been adequately trained to handle a fire emergency on the premises–that they know how to notify everyone of an emergency and can assist in making sure all occupants have exited the structure.
Advise fire dispatchers that when an alarm is received for a retail furniture store or a residential fire in which upholstered furniture is reported to be ignited, they should immediately relay that information to first-due companies.
Advise all fire personnel of the large quantities of combustion energy that upholstered furniture can release and how quickly this energy can cause a flashover–a frequent factor in firefighter deaths in recent years.
Note: The Bulletin can be downloaded (in Adobe Acrobat format) from the NASFM Web Site at www.firemarshals.org (choose DOWNLOAD from the menu, and download bulletin.pdf).
For additional information, contact Don Bliss at the NASFM at (603) 271-1085.
