Saving Lives by Making Upholstered Furniture More Resistant to Fire
By Mauro Zammarano, a materials research engineer in the Fire Research Division at NIST
Fires that begin on upholstered furniture such as sofas are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, accounting for about 600 deaths per year. They are not as frequent as cooking fires, but they are about 14 times more likely to result in death than other home fires.
Since my days as a graduate student, I have devoted my research life to the cutting-edge science that can help reduce these fires and make our homes safer.
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