The next time you set fire to your mattress just to see what happens, remember this cautionary tale from Underwriters Laboratories: The fire might look like it's out, but it's not.
Fortunately, the labs of the product-safety testing and certification group are designed to withstand fires, since setting things ablaze is all in a day's work. The
Chicago Tribune reports that over the weekend, mattresses in the burn room at the test facility reignited after everyone went home.
"My feeling is that something was smoldering that they didn't catch (on Friday)," Patrick Crown, Northbrook Fire Department district chief told the
Chicago Tribune. "And it just smoldered and smoldered and it finally ignited when everyone was gone."
If one of the most experienced labs in the country can make this mistake, so can the rest of us. You're probably not burning mattresses in your house, but you might well be using your grill or, especially this time of year, cranking up the wood stove or fireplace. So it's good to know the facts about smoldering ash.
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin fire department has seen a marked increase in the number of fires caused by smoldering ash, from one or two a year to five or more this year. And that's just one fire department. John Holland, public education specialist for the department, says that falls in line with the growing popularity of outdoor fireplaces. (One homeowner stashed the ash under his wooden deck.You can guess the rest.)
To keep this trend in check, the Oshkosh Fire Department has put together some tips on the proper disposal of ashes.
—Jonea Gurwitt
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