Fire Safety Testing - News

Elbeco introduces the new BodyShield™ External Vest Carrier V4. Based on extensive wear testing and evaluations, changes were made to the BodyShield™ that address an improved side closure performance while providing enhanced mobility and comfort. Features The addition of a 2" knit elastic extension to the end of each front side panel providing an extra range of motion while relieving the FastLock closure of direct stress when bending, getting in and out of vehicles, running, etc....

An inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) confirmed that Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service (RBFRS) has adapted and responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic effectively, thereby highlighting the additional support that the fire service has been offering its communities, throughout this public health crisis. RBFRS response to COVID-19 In August 2020, the UK Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to examine how fire and rescue...

Volunteers are special people, willing to share their time and passion to help others, simply because they care and want to make a difference. Those inspirational individuals form an important part of Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS), working alongside operational crews and office-based teams to help keep communities across Kent and Medway safe. Trying new challenges KFRS is fortunate to have 34 volunteers supporting a range of roles, and now the service is looking to welcome more people...

The Agility team is excited to announce the addition of Solid Responder LLC as their first exclusive authorized dealer for the US State of Florida. Solid Responder Solid Responder is the brainchild of Joe Hernandez from Disaster Medical Solutions, who has served as the DHS/FEMA National Coordinator and Lead Instructor for the US&R Medical Team Training Program and Lead SME for current curriculum development at FEMA. Solid Responder provides equipment designed, developed, tested, and prove...

Rosenbauer America, a renowned global manufacturer of custom fire apparatus, has announced the appointment of Mark Fusco. He will be assuming the role of Vice President of Sales & Marketing at the company. Marketing and sales expert Mark Fusco brings with him more than two decades of marketing and sales experience to Rosenbauer America. His expertise includes channel development, go-to-market strategy, sales, inventory, and operations planning (SIOP), precision technologies, and data insig...

At the beginning of 2020, the Asian region was gripped by the coronavirus earlier than Europe. When the virus was still known as a purely “Asian” issue in the media in Austria, Rosenbauer still thought that it would be under control in a few months and that they could continue the Asian business as normal. But they knew better with hindsight. Travel restrictions have now been in place for more than 10 months, and all stakeholders in the fire service industry have had to put up with...

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) have been recognized nationally for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, SFRS was praised for its positive contributions to the local community and commitment to the welfare of its staff. In August 2020, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) was commissioned by the UK Home Secretary to examine how fire and rescue services are responding to the pandemic. Effective command and control frameworks...

UKAS was pleased to contribute to CQI’s recent report ‘The Future of Work’, which explores the realities of “digital transformation” in the workplace. When considering the age of digitalization (often referred to as the 4th Industrial Revolution) ‘The Future of Work’ report considers the key drivers for change that were identified by CQI’s Research Advisory Panel.  These include: Big data and analytics Augmented reality Artificial i...

The end of a challenging year is worth celebrating and so is Twiceme's second anniversary. The last year was difficult for many, while surprisingly promising for a few. Although it was far from the year, Twiceme hoped for on a humanitarian level, new learnings were gathered and adjustments were made, which will result in new opportunities in 2021. Twiceme Technology’s journey towards becoming a global standard of accessible vital info faced several obstacles in early 2020, however, these...

A national inspection has praised the response of South Yorkshire’s fire service to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue adapted to the pandemic effectively, carried on delivering its core services and provided additional support to the community during the first phase of the pandemic. Inspectors also found that staff well-being was made a clear priority for the service and praised senior pioneers for actively promoting well-being services, in a report published b...

The community is at the heart of Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS), and on-call firefighters help to strengthen those links by serving the villages and towns where they live and work.  Luke Pritchard is an on-call firefighter based in Faversham, where he lives with his wife and their two young children. Having grown up in the town, the 35-year-old wanted to be a firefighter at his local fire station from a young age and successfully applied for the role four years ago.  Comments of...

Recently the Columbia-Richland Fire Department became one of only 250 fire-service agencies in the U.S. that will take part in a new nationwide pilot program to map areas of risk in the communities. Tracking fires and emergencies In the coming weeks, the new software will be coming online at the department that will help keep track of and chart areas in Richland County that have experienced fires and other types of emergencies. Using this information, the department can then take actions that...

With distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine accelerating around the globe, hopes are high that society can reclaim a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy in the coming months. Organizations may look to call many of their remote workers back to physical buildings as the vaccine rollout continues. However, there are unique new challenges to in-person work in a post-pandemic world, as organizations who have maintained in-person workforces can attest. Managing an in-person workforce in 2021 Marc Bognar,...

The pandemic has made it difficult to predict demand from one month to the next, when it comes to field service engineering. This makes the flexibility of employing contractors even more attractive. In Autumn 2020, STANLEY Security Solutions approached the Zitko contracts team with a considerable challenge: resource a group of 8 – 10 contractors to support the company’s operations in various UK regions. The requirement was for an immediate start and the specification was strict: mul...

Warwickshire residents are warned to check their chimneys as Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has attended a series of chimney fires across the county in recent times. The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service have been called out for multiple chimney fire incidents in Leamington Spa, Rugby and Northend, in the United Kingdom, just in the last seven days. Chimneys need to be swept regularly Residents are reminded that chimneys must be swept regularly by approved chimney sweeps, as consiste...

Firefighting kit has a number of functions. It protects crew members in a wide range of situations and makes them instantly recognizable in an emergency. Replacing the firefighting kit at the right time keeps fire firefighters and rescue personnel safe and comfortable, no matter what the emergency. Call outs for firefighters  According to the UK Home Office, in the last year, 28 per cent of call-outs for firefighters and rescue staff involved responding to fires, 42 per cent of call outs...

Artificial intelligence and journalistic expertise are the basis of a disinformation detection system developed and implemented in a collaboration between press relations, NewsGuard, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing, and Ergonomics FKIE. First use case A qualitative analysis of media coverage of the 2020 US election. The analysis reveals that Donald Trump’s media dominance over his challenger Joe Biden was due primarily to the spread of fake news and...

Rapidrop is the UK manufacturer and supplier of fire sprinkler system products serving the needs of the fire detection and suppression industry worldwide. From their headquarters in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Rapidrop manufacture fire sprinkler heads to suit commercial applications. Now exporting to over 75 countries’, Rapidrop provides tailored solutions and dedicated support from a worldwide sales and distribution network. They are proud to have been involved in many prestigious cons...

PACCAR and Aurora have signed a global, strategic agreement to develop, test, and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. This collaboration will integrate PACCAR’s autonomous vehicle platform with the Aurora Driver software, in order to enhance the safety and operational efficiency of PACCAR’s customers. Autonomous-enabled vehicles In the strategic partnership, PACCAR provides autonomous-enabled vehicles with industry-renowned quality, durability and reliability, r...

AVK International (AVK) is pleased to announce a new range of universal and dedicated encapsulation collars for repair of pipe sockets and pipe walls. Hydro Stop, Hydro Fast and Hydro Smart are ideal for performing safe and permanent repair under pressure. Hydro-Cos. S.r.l., the new member of the AVK Group, has developed a wide range of universal and dedicated encapsulation collars, and can also offer completely customized solutions for any leak. Standard encapsulation collars The standard en...

At 18:26 hours on January 18th, 2021, E811 was dispatched as part of the fire task force for a working fire in the 14000 blocks of Cherry Lane Ct. First arriving units found heavy smoke conditions on arrival, with fire originating from a potential HazMat trailer inside the structure. Upon arrival, E811 assisted in extinguishing the surrounding fire and containing the fire to the trailer until it was able to be safely removed. E811 operated for approximately an hour before returning to service.

Equipped with a quick-response operational mechanism, Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) sprinkler systems respond to flames in the initial stage of the fire development itself. They are high volume sprinkler systems that provide extraordinary protection for highly stacked storage occupancies. ESFR sprinkler systems These ESFR sprinklers are specifically designed to deliver copious amounts of water, so that the fire can be suppressed shortly after the sprinkler operates. Consequently, fire...

Packexe were awarded a Royal Warrant in 2016 for supplying Packexe protection film to the royal household and last year, the company added a Queens Award for Enterprise to their name. Recognized in the category of innovation for their time critical glass management tool, Packexe SMASH, Packexe have been supplying emergency teams across the globe with their innovative extrication tool for the last decade. Packexe SMASH Packexe SMASH is designed to hold glass securely in place, reducing the ris...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had a successful year of research and development in the area of detecting and predicting the impact of wildfires and wildfire smoke. NOAA's Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) continues to improve its Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product with the latest fire and smoke monitoring methods and satellite data available. The product provides near real-time maps, fire data statistics, and data sets for mo...

The National Fire Chiefs Council has released a range of updated risk assessments which will allow fire-fighters and other staff to continue work on COVID-related activities – while taking on more. To support this, 10,000 lateral flow tests a week will be provided by the government to fire services, meaning up to 5,000 fire-fighters could soon be supporting the UK-wide vaccination program underway. These tests will help keep firefighters who are undertaking vital COVID work safer –...

It’s a new year, which means one has a new budget. So, one should start 2021 right with LSS Life Safety Services, to help them keep their facility’s fire barriers maintained and up-to-date with fire and life safety codes and standards. As a reminder for the New Year, below is a list of core services LSS offers. fire and smoke barriers Fire & Smoke Damper Inspections Dampers prevent the spread of fire and smoke within the facility’s ductwork. Fire dampers are used in...

An ASIS International UK Chapter member for nearly 20 years, John A. Petruzzi, Jr., CPP, will serve as President of the association’s Global Board of Directors in 2021. John Petruzzi’s discussed his goals for the coming year in a Q&A session. The ASIS blog asked Petruzzi to discuss the impact of his ASIS volunteer roles on his career. Power of the ASIS family John A. Petruzzi said, “I’ve often said that I owe much of my success to the power of the ASIS family. From...

Daniel Muijs, Ofsted's Deputy Director of Research and Evaluation, has published a handy guide on what is going well and not so well with remote learning. The information published covers: What is remote education? Common myths about remote education Using remote education to deliver learning How to keep it simple Adapting learning Remote feedback and assessment Technology provision Live vs. recorded delivery Engagement online Additional resources Whether the organization eng...

For anyone who is not aware and is responsible for fire extinguishers within their building, there has been a change for class D Powder extinguishers (which are used for metal fires). This change has been introduced with BS 5306-10:2019, published 31/10/2020, and supersedes BS 7863:2009 (which is withdrawn). clearer differentiation Guidance published in December 2020 by FIA (Fire Industry Association), states, “The major change is the color-code for class D Powder extinguishers (fo...

An ambitious new strategy defines the timeframe of a doubling of Hempel by 2025. Doubling revenue allows Hempel to also double its positive impact. The path is defined by a focus on the entire business, leadership positions in chosen segments, industry leadership in sustainability within those, as well as a strong focus on innovation and digitalization. new strategy 2020 has been a year of transition for global coatings supplier, Hempel. While still securing paint and coatings supply g...