Industry needs to support AHFA's FR initiative
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, July 9, 2007
Public safety officials are known to say that "dead people write fire safety standards." This cynical view is supported by the fact that it typically takes a major fire before more effective safety standards are adopted.
But I would like to correct one impression left by Gary Evans' article July 2 ("Charleston fire spurs calls for FR regs").
American Home Furnishings Alliance CEO Andy Counts and I were engaged in discussions several weeks before the Charleston SuperStore fire. No doubt, the Charleston fire has lent a greater sense of urgency to our discussions, but AHFA and the National Assn. of State Fire Marshals have known for some time that we are dealing with a challenge that goes well beyond the tragic loss of nine firefighters. On average, 10 Americans die each week in upholstered furniture fires in their homes, and we are seeing far too many fires in furniture retail stores and warehouses. The "tornado of fire" described as the Sofa SuperStore erupted into flame is what firefighters call "flashover." It is the point where all the surfaces in a space simultaneously ignite, and is what we see every day in residential fires involving the polyurethane foam in mattresses and upholstered furniture.
On July 25, AHFA will seek an upholstered furniture industry consensus on effective fire safety standards. NASFM welcomes Mr. Counts' leadership, knowing that it is never easy to achieve agreement among so many competing entities. We would encourage all furniture industry groups — retailers, manufacturers and suppliers alike — to approach the July 25 meetings committed to providing Mr. Counts with a single, unified package of fire safety standards.
NASFM's strong preference is to reach agreement with the upholstered furniture industry, and then move forward together with standardized national requirements. But after so many years of study and debate, we are fast running out of time. Once the federal investigators share their findings on the Charleston fire, the public will want answers.
John C. Dean, President, National Assn. of State Fire Marshals
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