United Kingdom (UK) Fire Industry News

Situational awareness is a critical component of emergency response operations. It is a process that helps firefighters solve problems, prevent bad outcomes, and make better decisions in high-stress environments. In recognition of its importance, the theme of the 2022 Safety Stand-Down campaign is “Situational Awareness: The Foundation for Good Decision-Making.”  Focus on Training and education  A joint initiative of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Sa...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved the projects for which the Fire Department Bureau requested funds under the Agency’s Public Assistance Program. These represent a total of 21 emergency and permanent work projects for a total of US$ 15.4 million. Of those, about US$ 10.7 million will be distributed in 18 permanent work projects, which will be used for upgrades to the structures belonging to the Bureau and for content replacement as a result of damage from Hurrica...

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a public consultation on draft guidance that puts fire safety at the center of the planning process for new developments. Sadiq Khan’s London Plan sets out guidance for development and building across London, with Khan stating that existing building regulations are ‘not fit for purpose’ and the progress of reform is too slow. London Plan Guidance The London Plan Guidance (LPG) relating to fire safety sets out how applicants seeki...

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority has approved a slight rise in its portion of Council Tax at a meeting. The rise will see a rise of 6p per week (on the 2021/22 charge) for Band A taxpayers, and 10p per week for a Band D taxpayer (on the 2021/22 charge). Despite the rise West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority remains the fourth lowest cost-per-head-of-population in the country. maintain and improve Chief Fire Officer - John Roberts said, “We welcome the decision by the Authorit...

Borger's batch of ten mobile Bioselect Powerlift separators will be delivered in the next few days. The Bioselect achieves high flow rates with a very compact design, which makes it perfectly suitable for mobile applications. The Powerlift version of the separator can be extended hydraulically to a discharge height of 4.30 m so that even large dump trucks can be filled easily.

In recent weeks, Rosenbauer has built the first RTX vehicle for the North American fire services market. The RTX vehicle intended for the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) has been developed jointly with the LAFD. The ‘core DNA’ of the RTX is identical to the RT, according to the European standard, while the technical design complies with the American NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) regulations. RTX firefighting vehicle The RTX firefighting vehicle incorporates th...

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has received a Gold award for its commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and equality in the workplace. The award is given to companies and public services that are able to show their outstanding support and efforts toward making workplaces more inclusive for everyone. This is the first time KFRS has received the Gold award, and it's been ranked at position 122 in the top employers list. UK Workplace Equality Index The awards and UK Workplace Equality Index...

The Working Patterns project team announces the launch of the working patterns case studies and case study implementation tool. NFCC People Programme The NFCC People Programme worked with services to identify new and innovative working patterns, which have been compiled into nine case studies. Case studies include supporting information about the whole time and on-call duty systems for UK services with useful information about international working patterns. The case studies provide examples...

Nittan Europe, a manufacturer of fire detection products sold globally, has launched the EV-PYSVAD Visual Alarm Base for use with its EV-PYS Photoelectric smoke detector. Performance and installation The new EV-PYSVAD is a Type A Indoor Beacon Base VAD with enhanced performance. It features 12 high-power white LEDs which provide the required light output to meet the EN 54-23 Category C (Ceiling) certification requirements with a rating of C 3.0 x 5.0. As a slave device taking its commands from...

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2022 fire service achievement awards. Steven Klein will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by ADT, Chief John Buckman III will receive the Chief James P. Seavey Sr. Health and Wellness Leadership Award, co-sponsored by VFIS and Ward Diesel Filter Systems, Kaylee Gianforte will receive the Junior Firefighter of the Year Award, sponsored by California Casualty, and the Rowlett Explorer Post One wil...

On the 1st of February, ARA Group NZ Limited (ARA), completed the acquisition of Sopersmac, one of the largest distributors of architectural door hardware in New Zealand. Sopersmac offers a full-service value proposition to their clients and in addition to the supply of architectural hardware, they also offer specification, project management, master keying and installation services for commercial, custodial, industrial and high-end residential properties. Door hardware industry Sopersmac pri...

South Yorkshire firefighters will be practicing new procedures for responding to fires in high-rise blocks of flats, as part of work to adopt learning from incidents in tall buildings. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue is carrying out multiple training exercises in each of the county’s four districts in the coming months. practical, live training The practical, live training will particularly focus on changes to evacuation procedures when fire compartmentation in tall buildings fails....

New guidance on cleaning and maintaining industrial and commercial kitchen extraction and ventilation systems has been published by the National Association of Air Duct Specialists UK. NAAD21 The document – NAAD21 is a collaboration between industry experts and other associations, and covers both grease and air quality. The guidance is embedded throughout the GT0F 04 SCQF Level 5 (NVQ2): Ventilation Hygiene Certificate and forms the core of the qualification, covering the practices and...

Digital technology is transforming the way the house-building industry is doing business, from making day-to-day on-site processes more efficient, to helping manage asset information, in order to ensure compliance. The question now is ‘what next?’ To answer this question, some of the sector’s renowned content providers offer their key insights about the main motivators behind the latest innovations. AI, IoT-backed devices PJ Farr, Managing Director of leading construction co...

In a digital world, software and connected devices have become an essential part of emergency response operations. Rosenbauer Digital Solutions (RDS) complete the product portfolio with state-of-the-art technologies. digital ecosystem At Intersec 2022 which took place from January 16th to January 18th, 2022, RDS put a strong focus on digital products and services: Connected Fleet, Connected Drones as well as tactical Simulators have attracted a lot of attention and proven to be important futur...

SMART SHOOTER, a world-class designer, developer, and manufacturer of innovative fire control systems that significantly increase the accuracy and lethality of small arms, has received an order from the Dutch military and will provide them with its SMASH AD solution for operational use. The Dutch military has tested the system during the recent year and decided to purchase it and use the systems immediately, mainly for C-UAS purposes. Fire Control solution SMASH is a combat-proven Fire Contro...

A forest fire (also known as wildfire) is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation, such as forest, grassland or prairie. It is often caused by human activities or natural phenomenon, like lightning. Nevertheless, according to a World Health Organization report, in 50% of wildfires recorded, the cause that triggered them is unknown. Mountainous regions, like Rizhao in Shandong Province of China, are vulnerable to forest fire. Recognized by the United Nations in 20...

External wall fire review process forms, known as EWS1 forms, were developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and are used as part of the valuation process for high-rise residential buildings with cladding. Seven mortgage lenders provide EWS1 data to the department and these represent most of the lending market, according to the data release published on 17 February. This is the second time the Department for Leveling Up has published EWS1 lender data on mortgage valuation...

Following another successful conference last November which saw over 400 delegates in attendance, FIRE 2022 is set to return later this year. Traditionally organized collaboratively between the Fire Protection Association (FPA), Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the Fire 2022 team have now welcomed the Fire Sector Federation (FSF) as a key contributor and supporter of this event. The four parties will work closely together on the event program to...

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment launches a new Walk-to-Work crew transfer suit that overcomes a cumbersome feature of offshore wind turbine maintenance procedures without compromising safety, further strengthening its reputation for innovation in the renewables sector. The new VIKING YouSafe™ Walk-to-Work is a one-size immersion suit airtight packed into a bag that is attached to the user’s lifejacket instead of being worn during the transfer between support vessels and offshore instal...

Low Bridge Advance Warn­ing Detec­tion sys­tems has been brought into sharp focus, as a lor­ry strike to a rail­way bridge halt­ed all trains in and out of Corn­wall on Bank Hol­i­day Monday. A large refrig­er­a­tion lor­ry struck a bridge at Man­namead, in Ply­mouth, dam­ag­ing the stonework and rais­ing the lev­el of the bridge. The HGV became wedged under the arch and took more than 24 hours to re...

The prop­er­ty secu­ri­ty spe­cial­ists, VPS announce a for­mi­da­ble addi­tion to their range of secu­ri­ty solu­tions. The VPS SmartEyes detec­tor is a pow­er­ful, wire­less, video ver­i­fi­ca­tion sen­sor with in-built arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence that dra­mat­i­cal­ly reduces false alarms. Simple to install detectors “This rugged detec­tor enables...

Over sev­er­al decades now, a key com­po­nent for pro­tect­ing a loca­tion from a breach of secu­ri­ty or safe­ty has been a net­work of closed-cir­cuit TV cam­eras, or CCTV. And whilst the cam­eras are most­ly clear­ly vis­i­ble, what goes on behind the scenes, in the remote video mon­i­tor­ing centers, has large­ly been an untold area of the secu­ri­ty sec­tor...

Three judges pan­els have each short­list­ed VPS for sep­a­rate cat­e­gories in the pres­ti­gious Con­struc­tions News Spe­cial­ists Awards: Equip­ment Spe­cial­ist of the Year, for their safe­ty zone team’s work help­ing to keep road­work­ers safe and traf­fic flow­ing with wire­less CCTV Tow­ers and Vari­able Mes­sage Signs. Tack­ling Cli­mate Chang...

Nic Preston, Director of Qualifications – FireQual, discusses the work of Fire Industry Training Academy Ltd. and their new association with FireQual with Director, Gareth Selway. Nic Preston: Can you describe the work of Fire Industry Training Academy Ltd. and how you support the fire safety industry? Gareth: The “Fire Industry Training Academy” was founded to create a positive long-lasting legacy for the fire industry, raising the standard of workmanship, competenc...

II Aspire has been working with Skills for Security and other professionals across the Fire industry to review the National Occupational Standards in Mechanical Fire Protection. ​These standards relate to any non-electrical device used for fire protection such as, sprinklers; gas systems; water mist and powder; foam and chemical systems; dry and wet risers; fire mains. Industry best practice They are now consulting on the content of the National Occupational Standards to determine whether the...

II Aspire has been working with Skills for Security and other professionals across the fire industry, to review the National Occupational Standards in Mechanical Fire Protection. ​The National Occupational Standards in Mechanical Fire Protection relate to any non-electrical device used for fire protection, such as – sprinklers, gas systems, water mist and powder, foam and chemical systems, dry and wet risers, and fire mains. Consultations on the National Occupational Standards They are...

Hi-line Industries, an established and reputable UK manufacturer of high-quality compressed air purification equipment, announced that the company is now offering a fully-featured range of desiccant air dryers. The company’s series of class-leading HPSA heatless dryers includes new standard models, the recently launched HPSA-CT (Carbon Tower) version, plus the bespoke HP-HPSA (High Pressure) model. As a result, Hi-line Industries can fulfill the needs of any company that needs dry, clean...

Wildland urban interface (WUI) areas — where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland — are vulnerable to wildfires. The destruction caused by wildfires can be exploited by criminals and, because of the minimal resources required and the potential for widespread damage, foreign terrorist organizations encourage arson attacks in WUI areas. First Responder's Toolbox The National Counterterrorism Center's Joint Counterterrorism Assessment T...

3M is launching 3M Futures, a new platform showcasing five global science and technology trends shaping the world today — and the future of tomorrow. The platform explores each topic alongside commentary and perspectives from 3M experts, scientists, engineers, and designers at the forefront of their fields. 3M Futures also features data from global, third-party research conducted across 11 countries to understand perceptions of these top science, technology and design trends.  Healt...