Fire Industry News for May 2020

Chubb has been appointed the exclusive UK distributor, installer and service provider of SmartCell, a complete wireless fire detection platform by EMS. The platform provides customers with smaller commercial sites and properties complete control of their fire safety systems’ performance and strategy. Chubb and EMS are part of Carrier, a global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies. Fire...

New government legislation due to come into force in the United Kingdom on July 1st will require electrical installations in privately rented properties to be tested and inspected at least once every 5 years. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector Regulations (2020) will require landlords to enlist qualified electricians to complete inspections and provide certification to tenants – or face fines of up to £30,000. While the risk of fire can never be entire...

There have been challenges with completing fire safety maintenance and installation projects during the current Covid-19 crisis, most notably as a result of the difficulties for installers in safely accessing sites. Many construction projects halted for lockdown and this resulted in approximately 50% of the British installers we work with having to furlough staff. The challenges, however, are not just restricted to the UK. With Kentec panels sold in more than 90 countries across the world, we ha...

Among volunteer fire departments, spring is a prime season for fundraising. But not in 2020. Concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus have ruled out the possibility of large public gatherings. A consequence of the coronavirus shutdown is cancellation of hundreds of volunteer fire department fundraisers across the United States – from fish fries to bingo to hog roasts to chicken barbecues. No more carnivals or spaghetti suppers or gun raffles. And departments are losing thousand...

Following the enforced lockdown restrictions introduced to help combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, SSAIB took the decision to continue to offer certification by embracing new technology and migrating over to remote auditing. With the remote audit process now having been in place for two months, SSAIB spoke with Heather Martin – operations manager of SSAIB-registered firm Southern Fire Alarms Ltd - to discuss their own remote audit conducted during the height of lockdown last month....

Emergency vehicle manufacturer, Venari Group – based in Brighouse – has invested £400,000 in new machinery in an effort to advance its manufacturing quality, ability and capacity. Following a successful launch into the emergency services market in early 2020, Venari has bought the automated equipment in a bid for growth, amid the challenges brought on by COVID-19. The significant investment represents a CNC router – capable of precisely cutting sheets of metal from CAD...

Because the physical challenges take a toll, firefighters tend to retire at earlier ages than other occupations. There is also a greater likelihood of workplace disability. Firefighter pension plans are often more generous to offset a lack of Social Security eligibility for some public safety employees. Also, more years of retirement translate into an overall increase in medical care costs for fire service retirees. Therefore, pension benefits for public safety workers are more expensive than...

Cordico is proud to announce that they have entered into a strategic nationwide partnership with The Resiliency Project. The Resiliency Project is a non profit organization with a mission to end the silent suffering of the country’s first responders by providing peer support and funding for treatment, recovery and psychological services in an effort to treat posttraumatic stress, build resilience and end suicide. While The Resiliency Project supports the use of departmental peer support t...

Motorola Solutions announced the addition of three cloud-based offerings to its CommandCentral software suite: CommandCentral 9-1-1 Smart Transcription, CommandCentral 9-1-1 Citizen Input and PremierOne®️ Cloud CAD. These offerings provide emergency call handlers and the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) operators who dispatch 9-1-1 calls to police, fire and emergency medical services with the ability to streamline workflows and improve the monitoring and integrity of information in a secure go...

To support the COVID-19 site, and despite the warehouse being closed for a stock take, Apollo Fire Detectors personally delivered the essential fire safety equipment the day after the order was placed. Headley Court, in Surrey, will re-open and serve as a temporary community hospital for patients needing rehabilitation or convalescence, those receiving end-of-life care, as well as those who are recovering from COVID-19 and do not require critical or acute hospital care. COVID-19 patients rehab...

Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, announced that it has secured an order for nine pumpers built on a Freightliner chassis from Dyer County Fire Department located in Northwest Tennessee. Emergency vehicle specialists Sold through Pierce dealer for Tennessee and Arkansas, Emergency Vehicle Specialists, the order for nine pumpers is the largest in the department’s history and will be distributed among each of its nine fire stations to replace aging apparatus. Our...

Nittan Europe, UK manufacturer of conventional and addressable fire detection products and systems, has had its Evolution analog addressable fire detection system installed into a new student accommodation development in Beeston, Nottingham. The system was installed by Nottinghamshire based integrated safety and security solutions provider, TIS. Dagfa House is a unique development of townhouses, clusters and studios adjacent to The University of Nottingham campus. It provides accommodation to 2...

Teamwork, flexibility and a commitment to customer service have resulted in Apollo Fire Detectors being installed, commissioned and in operation in just four weeks at a former defense medical rehabilitation center that is being transformed into a community-style hospital for use during the coronavirus pandemic. Headley Court To support the COVID-19 site, and despite the warehouse being closed for a stock take, Apollo Fire Detectors ensured the essential fire safety equipment was personally del...

Almost 300 ambulance shifts were completed by Norfolk’s firefighters during their first month of supporting their blue light colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first group of 24 on-call firefighters who volunteered for the secondment carried out 278 shifts, equating to 3,336 hours of work, during the first four weeks after completing their training. They have now returned to their fire stations and been replaced with a further 25 on-call firefighters who started their ambulance...

Venari Group has confirmed a major exclusive partnership agreement for the firefighting sector, with one of the helmet manufacturers, SCHUBERTH. SCHUBERTH is a famous, 90-year old, manufacturer of safety helmets for motorcyclists and motorsport, including Formula One. For decades, it has also been one of the most popular helmets among German motorcyclists. And having produced EN 443-certified firefighting helmets for over 50 years, the company has selected recently launched Venari Group as its...

Economical and effective - the 25AE-70V paging horn for 70-Volt and 25-Volt paging systems distributes sound evenly, accurately, and affordably. “The 25AE-70V efficiently produces high quality audio and is a great addition to Viking’s paging collection.” – Paul Speltz, Senior Engineer, Viking Electronics Viking’s new 25AE-70V paging horn is designed to broadcast paging audio from a 70-Volt or 25-Volt paging amplifier. Five selectable power taps enable each horn&rs...

TFT has introduced all new High Rise Kits that help eliminate cumbersome hose line setups and allow for easy visibility of the supply pressure at the standpipe. The kits includes a heavy duty duffel bag, 2.5” angled waterway with in-line pressure gauge (valved and no valve options can be specified), two spanner wrenches, 2.5” x 1.5” reducer for use with a 1.5” coupled hose off of the TFT high rise solution, and 1.5” x 2.5” increaser for break and extend hose o...

The Ontario government has taken additional steps to protect people and property during the wildland fire season, including an increase in base funding for emergency forest firefighting by $30.2 million, and ensuring safety measures are in place to protect Ontario's highly trained fire rangers from COVID-19. On May 16, 2020, Ontario is lifting the Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ) designation that was put in place last month across Ontario's fire region.  The province will continue to assess fore...

Rosenbauer America is donating 24,000 KN95 facemasks to first responders as a thank you for their dedication through the COVID-19 pandemic. The facemasks will be distributed to fire departments across the United States and Canada. “Our communities rely on first responders answering calls for service; we need to protect their health and safety,” said John Slawson, Chairman and CEO of Rosenbauer America. “COVID-19 is personal; the virus literally follows responders home, subseq...

It is with deep regret that the organizers of the Australian AFAC declared that the 2020 edition of the conference and fair on protection and rescue has been postponed. This is due to the conditions and restrictions caused by the current COVID 19 pandemic. The AFAC powered by INTERSCHUTZ, scheduled for August, will now be held one year later - from August 17 to 20, 2021, in Sydney at the International Convention Center (ICC). AFAC had chosen Adelaide as a venue in southern Australia. The AFAC o...

At the beginning of April, the provider of Fire and Carbon Monoxide protection Aico introduced their award-winning training scheme delivered as daily webinars. Aico revamped their Expert Installer training to make it easily accessible online as a free of charge webinar. The seminars were greatly received, with each daily session selling out. Delivered by Aico’s National Technical Manager Andy Speake and Product Development Manager Mike Wright, the CPD certified webinars cover a wide range...

New fire extinguisher inspection software functionality embedded in the BirdDog Mobile Inspection System offers powerful capabilities to streamline & simplify the inspection & tracking of fire extinguishers and other portable devices. Asurio, Inc., a Colorado technology company that offers the BirdDog Mobile Inspection & Data Collection System, introduced Extinguisher Tracker – powerful, new fire extinguisher inspection software functionality embedded in the BirdDog Mobile Insp...

Berlin Fire Department's "eLHF" project, an abbreviation of "electric firefighting and rescue vehicle" in German, is a scheme backed by the Berlin Program for Sustainable Development (BENE). The main aim of this program, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, is to procure and pilot-test an innovative firefighting and rescue vehicle equipped with an electric drive to get it from A to B and run its extinguishing technology. Austrian specialist Rosenbauer, the world's man...

The latest Introduction into the Angloco Mist-Tech Range is the new and unique Battery driven misting system the VMSB 2000. All vehicle mounted misting systems are usually powered by an internal combustion engine. This can create problems with their installation, for example engine noise, exhaust emissions and in some cases having to carry another type of fuel. Battery powered misting system Angloco is all concerned about the environment and there must be a better way and following months of...

Angloco Limited, the UK’s oldest manufacturer of fire engines, has secured a major deal to replace and service most of the UK Ministry of Defense’s existing fire fleet. UK Defence Fire and Rescue Project The £30 million order comes as part of the Defense Fire and Rescue Project – a significant outsourcing contract recently awarded to Capita Plc. Under the contract, Angloco will not only supply more than 80 new state-of-the-art fire vehicles but will also support them b...

Comelit Group’s fire detection solution has been installed at Gleavewood Care Home by KJ Fire Safety, for the ongoing safety and security of staff, residents and visitors. Cheshire-based, Gleavewood Care Home, part of the Minster Care Group, is a two storey care home, with 30 single rooms and a variety of communal areas, alongside an enclosed garden area and multiple facilities and visitor activities on site for residents to benefit. Risk assessment on fire detection systems KJ Fire Saf...

Angloco Co. has announced partnering with Adaro Tecnologia to supply the Adalit range of professional safety torches. Adalit professional safety torches Designed for emergency services teams and other demanding professional applications where safety is critical, every Adalit torch features advanced optics, high quality engineering and has received ATEX approval. The Adalit range of professional safety torches include the L-10, the first re-chargeable flashlight to be specifically designed for...

The UK’s oldest manufacturer of fire vehicles – based in Batley – is readying itself for the biggest recruitment drive in its 54-year history, as the team prepares for its largest ever period of growth. Established in 1965, fire fighting and rescue vehicle specialist Angloco has already doubled production levels in the last 18 months, which sees 2017-18 turnover of £13m look set to rocket to £25m by the end of 2020. Water tender appliances But with the uplift sho...

On the 8th June, 2020, the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service will be opening recruitment process for wholetime firefighters. Between now and then, the fire and rescue service wants to raise awareness of the role of modern day firefighters and encourage applications from all parts of the communities. Raise awareness on fire safety When the recruitment application window opens, the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will be recruiting wholetime firefighters for the following fire st...

Oshkosh Corporation, an innovator of mission-critical vehicles and equipment, announced that John C. Pfeifer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Oshkosh, effective May 11, 2020. Mr. Pfeifer will continue to report to Wilson R. Jones, Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Pfeifer joined Oshkosh in May 2019 and has been responsible for overseeing the Company’s Access Equipment, Fire & Emergency and Commercial segments...