Mattress fires: Can your mattress beat the heat?

If a fire breaks out in your bedroom as you sleep, your mattress may make or break your ability to survive.

Our investigation, in conjunction with our sister station WPXI in Pittsburgh, found some mattresses burn much faster than others.

“That is something that you would never think about, your mattress catching on fire,” said mother of two Danickea Belvin of Kettering. “That does concern me.”

There have been at least three mattress-related fires in the last few months in the Dayton area.

A blaze on Adams Street in Dayton started when a space heater was placed too close to a mattress. One person suffered smoke inhalation.

Over a five-year period, nearly 400 people died from fires that started in a mattress, another 1,300 were injured, according to WPXI.

Fire experts estimate you only have two minutes to escape a burning home, so anything that ignites quickly decreases your chances of survival.

In testing done by fire crews and WPXI new, old and refurbished mattresses were set on fire to see how quickly they would burn.

The new mattress burned slowly and began to snuff itself out and the old mattress became fully engulfed in fewer than eight minutes.

“Newer mattresses do have some treating on them so it will allow them in the event of a fire to smolder rather than burst in to flames as an older mattress may,” said Washington Twp. Fire Department education specialist Scott Henry.

The final test was on the refurbished mattress and it was the slowest to burn, according to firefighters.

But the International Sleep Products Association warns not all refurbished mattresses are alike.

In ISPA mattress fire tests, refurbished mattresses were shown to catch on fire and burn quickly.

“Often they are not brought up to current fire standards,” said ISPA President Ryan Trainer. “We see mattresses 20 to 30 years old that are discarded and picked up by renovators.”

Some of those renovators do nothing more than replace the mattress cover, Trainer said.

No matter which mattress you have, Henry said to follow these basic fire safety guidelines:

• Keep space heaters 3 feet from mattresses
• Don't smoke in bed
• Don't sleep with phones or other electronics

Still, the odds of a fire starting in a bedroom are slim, and the best way to sleep safely is to keep doors closed, according to Henry.

“Having that bedroom door closed will prevent the smoke from elsewhere getting into your bedroom when you are asleep,” Henry said.

It could be the difference between life and death.

Testing done by the U-L Fire Safety Institute show a night and day difference in the amount of smoke and fire penetration into rooms with an open door versus a closed door.