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 An Interview with Diane Pein, President of Approved Fire and Board Chair of NAFED
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This month, the Halon Herald is introducing what we hope will be a regular feature of our newsletter - UNCENSORED. Over our decades working in this business, which includes fire suppression, commercial aviation, petrochemical, marine and defense industries, we have met any number of remarkable individuals who stand out for what they do, their contributions to their company and the industry, and for what they believe. We would like to begin recognizing them - in their own words - and we begin this month with Diane Pein, president of Approved Fire Protection and Board Chair of the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NAFED). Diane Pein, Uncensored!
An Interview with Diane Pein
Communicating During Challenging Times by Diane Pein
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Update on Halon Replacement in Commercial Aviation - Reports from the International Aircraft Fire Protection Forum - August 3-6, 2020
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 UNCENSORED: An Interview with Diane Pein, President of Approved Fire Protection and Board Chair of the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors |
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|  | | Diane Pein | |
1. What is your role at Approved Fire Protection?
At AFP, I am the President. 2. Tell us about your family. My family is my everything; I have been blessed with a smart, friendly, funny and loving 18-year-old son who is busy experiencing his sophomore year in college as I write this. I am married to my best bud now for 28 years and counting. I love keeping busy playing, working, or growing. I consider my dear friends to be an extension of my family and love spending time with them as well. I prefer spending time with my family (and friends) outdoors as much as possible, sharing the beauty in the world around us, bike riding, hiking, skiing, boating or just sitting about enjoy the space we are sharing. 3. What was your dream job growing up? Research chemist; and was granted the opportunity to be one for a decade or so.
4. What was your first job?
Baking pies (in a great bakery in NJ) and simultaneously a steel cutter/finisher in a Steel company in Perth Amboy, NJ 5. Describe how you got into the fire protection industry and your first job within the industry. My Dad and Grandmother begged and I caved. I started as a fire extinguisher technician. On my very first job, I managed to lock myself on a roof of a 4-story building and I had to shimmy down a steel pipe to the bushes below; all the while I was being watched on the security cams (for more on that story you will need to buy me a beer). Read the full interview here.
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| Communicating During Challenging Times | 
By Diane Pein
Duke Ellington said, "A problem is a chance for you to do your best." Or at least a chance to do better! The recent obstacles in our way have given us the opportunity to rise to the top, a way for us to show off our best qualities, to be the best leaders we know how to be, how to find the positive in a negative environment. As leaders during these tumultuous times, it has been necessary to cut through the muck and find the root of an issue to be able to create an innovative solution to our problem. We had to rapidly change from our original plans/goals and find a new way to do business, realign our goals to meet the challenges and unexpected deviations ahead. While we all made tough decisions and plans for our businesses to ensure we would still be standing when the dust settled, it took great tenacity and a steady hand to keep pushing forward while the waves of uncertainty continued pushing us back. We engaged our leadership teams in ways they never before functioned; they took on roles they never performed and yet they realized zeniths they never imagined possible. So how did we do this, and how do we continue operating at this level?
Read the rest of this article here.
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| Beirut Port Explosion Echoes 1917 Halifax Harbor Blast |
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| | | A monument for the 1917 Halifax explosion featuring an anchor blown over three kilometres from the harbour explosion site. (Jack Rozdilsky), Author provided | |
8/7/20
By Jamaal S. Abdul-Alim, Education Editor
The Conversation
As the scope of the Aug. 4 explosion at the port of Beirut becomes clear, the tolls of the loss of life, injuries, homelessness and property damage are staggering. In the immediate chaos of large explosions, it can be difficult to make sense of what has happened. There are numerous similarities between the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the 1917 Halifax Harbour Explosion that can help us make sense of what has happened in Beirut.
In 2017, I was part of a group of hazards researchers who met in Halifax to reflect on aspects of the Halifax Explosion for its 100th anniversary. Such historical disaster case study information is especially relevant now.
Read the full story here. |
| NFPA Codes and Standards Under Attack |  August 2020
By Jim Pauley, President and CEO, NFPA
NFPA Network Newsletter
NFPA's codes and standards are the result of a well-functioning system that has delivered fire, electrical, and life safety to the public for nearly 125 years. Serving as the longest-standing, most successful partnership between the public and private sectors, this system has fueled our economy, saved government immeasurable resources, and benefitted society in countless ways. And it is now under attack.
NFPA and other codes and standards developers are facing legal challenges driven by those who make the simplistic, erroneous claim that codes and standards should be free. This movement argues that if any governmental body, anywhere, decides to incorporate a standard by reference, then the entire copyright to every portion of that standard is automatically forfeited. In the wake of this campaign, we increasingly see people flooding the market with counterfeit versions of our standards, riddled with inaccuracies and peddled for profit without regard to the harm they cause to public safety.
Finish reading this article here.
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| Explosion at Kidde-Fenwal Facility in Ashland - Ruptured CO2 Line to Blame |
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| | | A carbon dioxide pipe rupture at the Kidde-Fenwal location in Ashland. (Neal McNamara/Patch) | |
8/18/20By Neal McNamara, Patch StaffPatchASHLAND, MA -- Police and firefighters responded to a reported explosion at a manufacturing facility in Ashland. According to town officials, "some type of industrial explosion" occurred at the Kidde-Fenwal building along Main Street, just south of the downtown area. The fire department reported a ruptured carbon dioxide supply line. A state Department of Fire Services hazmat team was responding to the site. Click here to finish reading this story.
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| Boeing 787 Decision Could Gut Washington State Aircraft Industry |
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| | | A new Boeing 787 Dreamliner emerges from the 787 final assembly factory in Everett on July 24. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times) | |
8/22/20By Dominic Gates, Seattle Times Aerospace ReporterThe Seattle TimesHit hard by the collapse of the airplane market, Boeing will decide as early as next month whether to consolidate its two 787 Dreamliner assembly lines in Washington and South Carolina at a single site. If it does, the 30,000-employee widebody jet plant in Everett is expected to be the loser. That decision would have dire consequences for Boeing's local workforce, and the regional supplier network that directly employs as many as 10,000 others.
To read this article in full, click here.
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| Meggitt to Decide on $600 Million Equity Injection |
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A Meggitt Plc warehouse stands in Inmobiliaria Vesta SAB's Aerospace Park in Queretero, Mexico on Monday, June 24, 2013. (Bloomberg)
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8/6/20By Ruth David, Dinesh Nair and David Hellier, BloombergMSNMeggitt Plc is considering selling as much as $600 million of new stock as it prepares for another wave of the coronavirus outbreak that's hobbled its planemaker clients, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.K. engineering group is working with advisers to review equity and debt funding options, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. One measure under consideration is a share sale equal to as much as 20% of the company's issued capital, they said. To continue reading this article, click here.
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| American Airlines to Lay Off 15,500 Employees | 8/26/20
By Dawn Gilbertson
USA Today
American Airlines warned in July that it would have to lay off up to 25,000 flight attendants, pilots and other front-line workers this fall due to the steep decline in travel brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The final number came in lower thanks to voluntary employee exits and long-term leaves but the figure is still staggering: 17,500 workers. That is in addition to 1,500 management and administrative workers already laid off.
Continue reading this story here. |
| Spirit Airline Avoids Mass Layoffs |
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| | | A Spirit Airlines jetliner at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The Miramar discount carrier said it had reached an agreement with its pilots and other workers to reduce the need for 2,500 layoffs companywide. (Joe Cavaretta/Sun Sentinel/TNS) | |
8/25/20
By David Lyons
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Spirit Airlines won't need to cut up to 2,500 from its payroll as management has made voluntary leave and other arrangements with hundreds of employees, the company said.
Faced with a dramatic decline in passenger traffic caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Spirit earlier this month announced 2,500 furloughs and layoffs company-wide.
"The actual number will be a small fraction of that, which is a testament to strength of the Spirit family," the Miramar-based company said in a statement. "Discussions with other work groups are already resulting in an outpouring of support, which is reducing the need for furloughs and layoffs even further."
To read the rest of the story, click here.
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| Fire Suppression System Controls Spread of Machine Fire; One Firefighter Injured |
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| | | Battle Creek Fire Department (BCFD) truck. (Photo courtesy of the Battle Creek Fire Department Facebook page) | |
8/18/20
By Will Kriss
WKZO
BATTLE CREEK, MI -- The Battle Creek Fire Department (BCFD) is reporting that one firefighter was injured in an incident that occurred on August 17.
Just after 1 p.m., crews were dispatched to Motus Integrated Technologies at 2500 Logistics Drive.
170 employees were evacuated from the premises while firefighters assessed the situation.
Read the full article here. |
Fire Suppression System Extinguishes Scrap-Yard Fire
| 8/14/20
By Michael Goot
The Post Star
GLENS FALLS -- No one was injured in a small explosion at the R. Cohen Recycling center.
The explosion, which could be felt by neighbors, triggered the automatic fire suppression system. Glens Falls Fire Department Assistant Chief John David said by the time firefighters arrived, the fire was mostly knocked down.
Click here to read more of this article. |
| Conoco Phillips Gets Green Light for Alaska Oil Project |
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| | | FILE PHOTO: The logo for ConocoPhillips is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, January 13, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid | |
8/14/20
By Jessica Resnick-Ault
Reuters
NEW YORK -- The Trump Administration approved U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips' plan for drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a wilderness area along the state's North Slope oil fields.
The Bureau of Land Management published a final Environmental Impact Statement for the company's Willow project, which the agency said could produce more than 160,000 barrels of oil per day over the next 30 years. If constructed, Willow will be the westernmost development on the North Slope.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
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| COVID 19 Cases Grow at Alaska North Slope Fields |
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| | | There have been eight cases of COVID-19 at ConocoPhillips' Alpine facility on the North Slope. (Elizabeth Harball/Alaska's Energy Desk) | |
8/20/20By Nathaniel Herz, Alaska's Energy Desk - AnchorageAlaska Public MediaState and oil company officials confirmed 13 cases of COVID-19 between two different North Slope oil fields, as Alaska reported 86 new cases of the virus. To date, eight people have tested positive for COVID-19 at ConocoPhillips' Alpine camp on the Western North Slope, all of whom were flown to Anchorage for isolation, spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said in an email. That's up from two cases announced earlier in August.
Read more of this article here. |
PFAS Lawsuit Against 3M, DuPont Advances to Discovery
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8/24/20
By Garret Ellison
MLive
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Michigan Attorney General's lawsuit against major global chemical producers like 3M and DuPont, which made toxic fluorochemicals that have caused widespread pollution, is moving forward.
Judge George J. Quist denied multiple dismissal motions, allowing the case to advance following oral arguments on Friday, Aug. 21 in Kent County Circuit Court, according to state attorney general Dana Nessel's office.
To read the rest of this story, click here. |
| Lithium Battery Fire Destroys Loudoun County (Virginia, USA) Home |
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| | | Credit: Loudoun Co. Fire | |
8/23/20
By Kyley Schultz
WUSA9
DULLES, Va. -- The Loudoun County Fire Department announced that a faulty lithium-ion battery was to blame for a house fire that displaced a family of four.
The battery was in a remote-control car located in the garage of the Dulles area home, located on the 2500 block of Trilobite Court. Firefighters responded to the home around 7 p.m., and multiple rescue crews were called to help battle the flames, the fire department said.
Read the full article here.
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| Troublemaker Sprays Hotel Worker with Fire Extinguisher |  8/31/20
By Kim David
KROC
Rochester, MN -- An employee of a downtown Rochester hotel had a run-in with a man and ended up being sprayed with a chemical fire extinguisher.
The employee and a co-worker at the Center St Hilton were checking a report about a suspicious person in a 5th-floor restroom. The employee recognized the man as the same person who had caused trouble in the past and was trespassed from the hotel and ordered him to leave. The man sprayed the fire extinguisher at the employee before he left. The employee was still covered in the chemical spray when officers arrived.
Finish reading this article here. |
| United to Retire Boeing 767s |
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| | | A United Boeing 767-400ER landing at Amsterdam Schiphol. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | |
9/2/20
By Edward Russell
The Points Guy
The Boeing 767 may be going the way of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family and other older jets in U.S. airline fleets due to the coronavirus pandemic.
American Airlines has retired its last 17 767-300ERs and Delta Air Lines is retiring seven of its 56 767-300ERs to date due the crisis. Now, analysts at Cowen expect United Airlines to follow suit retiring its 767 fleet.
Click here to read more of this story. |
| California Lawmakers to Phase Out Toxic Firefighting Foam |
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| | | Under the Senate bill, oil refineries like this one in Torrance will have until 2028 to replace firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals with a less harmful alternative. (Michael Owen Baker/For The Times) | |
8/30/20
By Anna M. Phillips, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
California lawmakers voted to phase out the sale and use of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and have contaminated drinking water throughout the state.
The measure, put forward by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), requires municipal fire departments, chemical plants and oil refineries to gradually stop using the foam, replacing it with alternatives that don't contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals commonly known as PFAS.
Finish reading this article here. |
| Tough Times for Aircraft Manufacturing |
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| | | Airbus and Boeing face an uncertain future for new orders (Photo by: aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) | |
8/28/20
By John Strickland, Contributor
Forbes
As airlines struggle through the Covid crisis it is inevitable that the aircraft manufacturing sector takes a hit. The two giants, Airbus and Boeing are not immune, nor are other manufacturers or the extensive supply chain. Massive job losses and furloughs have already been announced, sadly more can be expected. Order cancellations are coming in and groups such as Europe's Lufthansa and IAG are shrinking and negotiating significant order deferrals.
Normally by this time of year both manufacturers have issued their latest 20 year market demand forecasts for commercial airliners by type, volume and geography-but not this year. They will come, later than usual, but it's an exceptionally challenging task to make any projections of potential demand in the midst of this crisis. So what kind of factors will be at play and where might this leave the manufacturers and their respective product ranges?
Read the rest of this article by clicking here. |
| International Aircraft Systems Fire Protection Forum: Halon Replacement Handbook | 
August 2020- Need -
- Current MPS methods are scattered about in various FAA reports and some are in need of revision
- Objective -
- To develop a handbook containing all 4 Minimum Performance Standard (MPS) procedures for demonstrating equivalence to Halon
- Cargo
- Engine Nacelle
- Handhelds
- Lavatories
Click here to see the full presentation.
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| Cargo Compartment Halon Replacement MPS Document Review and Revision Updates |  Presented to: International Aircraft Systems Fire Protection Forum Meeting
By: Dhaval Dadia
Date: August 3, 2020
Federal Aviation Administration
Halon Handbook
- Combining the Halon Replacement Standards into a single document
- Lavatory
- Handheld
- Cargo Compartment
- Engine Nacelle
- Adopt the "living document" approach to be able to make changes to the document more easily.
Click here to see the full presentation. |
| Cargo Compartment Halon Replacement Advisory Group (CCHRAG) Activities Overview | 
International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations
IASFPF Virtual Forum Aug 03-06 2020Executive Summary- [2019] CCHRAG is optimistic that a solution will be available to meet the ICAO deadline.
- Assuming further development by the participants and timely government approvals
- If a candidate system has not been demonstrated to be application ready by the 41st Session of the ICAO Assembly, ICCAIA will indicate the potential consequences with respect to the 2024 deadline.
Click here to see the full presentation.
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| Engine/APU Halon Replacement Industry Consortium - Halon Alternatives for Aircraft Propulsion Systems (HAAPS) - Update |
August 3-6, 2020FAA INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FIRE PROTECTION FORUM VIRTUAL MEETINGBy (Alan Macias) Boeing GBM of HAAPSHAAPS Charter and Statement of Work- Define common non-halon fire extinguishing solution(s) for use in engine/APU fire zones that...
- is compliant to basic industry and regulatory requirements
- meets multiple OEM (airframe, engine, APU, nacelle, etc.) requirements
- meets multiple governmental agency regulatory requirements;
- provides a viable business solution for Consortium partners; and
- is production-ready
Click here to see the full presentation.
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Pye Barker Adds Two Locations - Nevada and Washington
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| | | Alpine Fire's state of the art warehouse facility, the largest DOT Certified Hydrostatic Testing facility north of Seattle. (PRNewsfoto/Pye-Barker Fire & Safety) | |
8/18/20By Pye-Barker Fire & SafetyCision PR NewswireALPHARETTA, Ga. -- Pye-Barker Fire & Safety is proud to announce its expansion into two new states within the first quarter of 2020. The expansion occurred through the acquisitions of Certified Fire Protection in Las Vegas, Nevada and Alpine Fire and Safety Systems in Burlington, Washington. The purchases were finalized in February and March, respectively, and financial details have not been disclosed.
Read the full article by clicking here. |
| JCI Appoints Schwarz as Chief Information Officer |
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| | | Diane Schwarz appointed CIO of Johnson Controls | |
8/11/20By Johnson Controls International plcCision PR NewswireCORK, Ireland -- Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart and sustainable buildings, announced Diane Schwarz has joined the Company as its chief information officer (CIO). In this role Schwarz will be responsible for leading an integrated, reliable, business-aligned information technology (IT) organization. She will develop and execute an enterprise-wide IT strategy that continues to merge technology operations to ensure a strong foundation for Johnson Controls to scale and achieve its global growth objectives.
Read the full article here. |
Most Popular Stories from August 2020
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If you have any questions, comments, would like to be featured in a future Halon Herald, or would like to be added to our mailing list for this newsletter, please contact Kari Buser at
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