VIDEO - New furniture may look nice for interior design, but in a house fire, it can burn hotter and faster than grandma’s couch.
Modern furnishings made of synthetic materials are more dangerous in a fire than older furnishings made of natural materials such as cotton, wool and wood.
Bend Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering demonstrated the difference Tuesday — and it was dramatic — during a controlled burn using two living-room sets at the Bend Fire Department training center on Jamison Street. In each room, Kettering lit a candle and placed it on a blanket covering a couch.
The cotton couch in the older-style room caught fire first, but the flames never spread from the corner of the couch.