People who are planning on buying a new house and filling it with brand new furniture may want to consider fire safety and vintage models.
Building materials in new homes are sometimes stronger and more environmentally friendly, but they do not stand up as well to fires. Engineered beams, which are constructed of adhesive and wood chips, hold up well, until there is a fire.
"All the glue starts to melt and it weakens that beam," said Jimmy Walker, Kansas City Fire Deputy Chief. "That's when we have catastrophic collapses."
"It's really changed the way we fight fire in newer homes because we can't trust being on the engineered lumber floors as long as we used to be."
In 2012, Underwriters Laboratories studied furnishings from the mid 20th century and building materials from the 1950s to the 1970s. Flash over, when most surfaces in a room reach ignition temperature and emit flammable gases, occurred in less than five minutes.
The fastest a legacy room reached flash over was 29 minutes.
The study indicates it is more important than ever to maintain smoke detectors and for everyone to get out of the home as quickly as possible whenever fire breaks out.
