Displaced by Fiberglass Disaster: Help Us Return Home!

Please help my family recover from fiberglass contamination in our home!

My name is Ari and I recently moved back home to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with my elderly disabled mother, Ann, and my dog, Kohala. On December 19th, after living there for a couple of weeks, I realized that a tear in my Casper memory foam mattress cover had resulted in fiberglass leaking and being spread all over the house. Heating and air circulation have distributed the particles densely throughout the home, as you can see from the appearance of "glitter" and sparkling strands in the videos. It has contaminated all of our bedding, clothes, dog beds, carpets, drapery, and covers all of the hard surfaces and furniture in the home.

Fiberglass is used in some brands of memory foam mattresses as a cheap flame retardant and is not openly mentioned by many of the companies. It's contained in the inner core of the mattress and wrapped by a removable cover. Any damage to the cover or unzipping it to wash it will release large amounts of fiberglass strands. It's also coming to light that long-term use of these mattresses causes the strands to break down and eventually leak through an intact cover.

Because of this irresponsible and dangerous choice of material by Casper, our house has been deemed uninhabitable by both the fire department and multiple hazardous waste authorities. My mother and I, as well as my dog and other animals, have been displaced until the house can be cleaned. It must be completely decontaminated, which will involve deep cleaning every surface, wiping down all walls and ceilings, cleaning all personal belongings, vacuuming with HEPA-rated filters, placing air scrubbers in the rooms, cleaning all upholstery, as well as cleaning and replacing the filters in the entire HVAC system.

The cost estimate of professional hazmat decontamination has ranged from $14k to $30k, which is entirely out of reach for my family. We filed a claim with our homeowner's insurance to help with the financial burden, but it was swiftly denied the next day by the company claiming our policy doesn't cover fiberglass contamination. This has put us in an impossible spot, as we can't afford the cost of cleanup nor the cost of a hotel stay until our house is habitable again. In addition to the cost of hazmat services, most of our clothes and other cloth, paper, and porous items will need to be disposed of and replaced. **Kohala and I are already facing health issues due to prolonged exposure from unknowingly sleeping on the contaminated mattress for weeks. Vet attention is needed ASAP.**

At this point, I will have to do my best to clean the home myself unless funding can be raised to hire hazmat. Even cleaning it without professional help will be incredibly expensive, as I will need to rent or purchase all of the required equipment and PPE. This option puts myself and anyone who helps with the task at risk and doesn't guarantee that we will remove all of the contamination. Funding will also be needed to cover the cost of temporary housing for us in the form of a hotel or community-provided shelter until the house is safe to return to.

This GoFundMe, while not able to solve the emotional toll that this catastrophe has had on myself, my mother, and my dog, it will hopefully help ease the financial burden. **Donations will be used to cover the cost of veterinary and medical treatment, housing while our home is being decontaminated, and replacement of furniture and clothes that are unable to be salvaged.** While this would be unimaginably hard to deal with any time of year, facing these challenges during the holiday season while North Idaho faces freezing temperatures is even worse. We were unable to spend Christmas at home with our family and are now displaced while coming into the New Year. Any donation, big or small, will help facilitate recovery and our return home and mean the world to us. Please donate if you can, and share this story with your friends and family to help rebuild our lives and raise awareness about this horrifying situation that will undoubtedly affect many more people until widespread bans on fiberglass use in mattresses are passed.