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Videos of the Month
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Overzealous Chef Sets Off Fire Suppression Sprinklers
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 Time To Break Up UTC? |
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File photo (Hartford Courant)
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2/25/18
By Stephen Singer, Contact Reporter
Hartford Courant
As the aerospace industry soars, UTC is considering whether to break apart, transforming itself by separating its growing jet engine and airline business from its elevator and air conditioning subsidiaries.
"I think that's the question that we all have to ask is: Is UTC a more valuable property together, or is UTC better off in three separate businesses," said Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes.
A smaller move, such as jettisoning UTC's fire and security businesses, would improve the portfolio, Analyst Jeff Sprague at Vertical Research Partners said. But it would "be somewhat anti-climactic from an investors standpoint," he said.
Check out the whole story
here.
More on UTC
 2/6/18
By Caleb Garvin
Daily Forex Report
United Technologies Corporation (UTC) has been around for 84 years, changing their name from United Aircraft Corporation in 1975 to reflect an expanded interest in more areas of high-tech industries. Based out of Farmington, Connecticut, they are one of the leaders in the aerospace industry. UTC also has their hands in other industries such as HVAC as well. They truly are a conglomerate that represents many industries. But their bread and butter is definitely in aerospace.
UTC made headlines again recently when they acquired Rockwell Collins Inc. for about $23 billion. They are essentially making themselves a one stop shop for anything aerospace. UTC is able to complete jetliners and military planes from tip to tail without having to involve another company to finish the job.
Read the rest of this story
here.
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Emergency Landing After Smart Phone Catches Fire
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2/6/18
By Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent
Independent
A US domestic flight was forced to divert when a passenger's lithium battery caught fire, injuring two people and spreading smoke through the cabin.
Frontier Airlines flight 1883 had departed from Orlando in Florida, destination Phoenix, Arizona, at 8.40pm on 3 February. During the climb, a passenger's battery that was connected to a smartphone ignited. It burnt the owner, who knocked it to the floor.
A passenger, Kim Gardner, reported on the Aviation Herald website: "Smoke was bad and it smelled awful for a little bit and then pretty much went away.
"It was pretty scary for a few minutes with all the smoke and fumes and made you realize how fast something can happen on a plane and how little control you have of things."
Read the rest of this story by clicking
here.
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Container Ship Adrift After Engine Fire
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Two crew members were transported by helicopter to receive medical attention after an engine fire broke out on their ship southwest of Haida Gwaii. (Andrew Wright/Parks Canada)
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2/1/18
CBC News
Two crew members had to be rescued from a container ship off the B.C. coast after they suffered burns in an engine fire.
The MOL Prestige is now adrift southwest of Haida Gwaii without a working engine and with nearly two dozen more people still onboard.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said three people were inside the engine room when a "major" fire broke out.
Read the full story
here.
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Southwest Airline Plane Evacuated Just Before Takeoff - Halon System Extinguishes APU Fire
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Southwest Airlines plane with its front emergency slides deployed is seen in John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California on February 12, 2018 after smoke in cabin forced an evacuation.
CBS Los Angeles |
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2/13/18
CBS/AP
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A fire on a Southwest Airlines plane forced it to be evacuated just before takeoff at a Southern California airport. Officials from John Wayne Airport say the crew of the Boeing 737 decided the plane should be evacuated using the aircraft's front emergency slides just after the plane had pushed back from the gate.
FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the blaze was in the airliner's auxiliary power unit and was extinguished with the plane's fire suppression system. The auxiliary power unit provides power to start the aircraft's main engines and serves as backup power in some situations.
Read the full story
here.
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| Fire Equipment Distributor Sued Over Restaurant Fire |
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Firefighters battle a December 2015 fire at the Portsmouth Gas Light Co. restaurant. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacostonline, file]
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2/14/18
By Elizabeth Dinan
Seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH -- A second insurance provider for the Gas Light Co. has filed a federal lawsuit blaming three contractors for a massive Dec. 9, 2015, fire in the restaurant and seeks payment from the companies to cover fire-related costs.
The Patriot Insurance Company has filed a civil suit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire against Tri State Hood and Duct and its affiliate Tri State Fire Protection, as well as Portsmouth Steam of Rye. The three-count lawsuit was filed on behalf of the insurer by Portsmouth attorney John Sherman and seeks an unspecified monetary judgement, while noting damages exceed the court's $75,000 minimum threshold. The insurer is also seeking interest, plus costs for taking the case to court.
Read the whole story
here.
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3M Settles Claim with Minnesota for $850 Million
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2/20/18
By Tina Bellon
Reuters
NEW YORK -- Industrial group 3M Co and Minnesota's attorney general have agreed to settle a lawsuit over polluted groundwater, with the company agreeing to grant $850 million to the state for groundwater projects, the attorney's office said.
Attorney General Lori Swanson had been seeking at least $5 billion in damages from 3M to help clean up the company's disposal of industrial chemicals in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area over the past 40 years.
Click
here to read more about this.
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| Chemours to Shutter HCFC-123 Plant (Canada) |
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| The chemical industry complex at Maitland is shown in this file photo. (FILE PHOTO) |
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1/30/18
By Sabrina Bedford
The Recorder and Times
MAITLAND -- An international treaty aimed at eliminating the production of certain ozone-depleting gases is what ultimately led to the closure of a local plant.
A representative for Chemours Canada Company confirmed to The Recorder and Times Tuesday the company will close its Maitland plant later this year because the chemical it produces will soon be prohibited in Canada and the United States.
"The site manufactures HCFC-123, a product used in the refrigerants and fire extinguishants markets," Alvenia Scarborough, director of brand marketing and corporate communications at Chemours, said in an email, adding 37 local jobs will be lost in the process.
Read the rest of this article
here.
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| FedEx Receives Fire Suppression System Patent |
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| Fire suppressant device and method, including expansion agent patent assigned to Federal Express Corp. Courtesy: United States Patent and Trademark Office |
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1/31/18
By Meagan Nichols, Lead Reporter
Memphis Business Journal
Data compression and fire suppression are the subjects of two patents recently assigned to FedEx by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The second patent assigned to Federal Express Corp. on Jan. 23 was a "fire suppressant device and method, including expansion agent" developed by James Popp out of Olive Branch.
The patent abstract states:
"A device for suppressing and/or extinguishing a fire associated with a container may include a housing defining a hollow sleeve and a column configured to be received within the hollow sleeve. The column may define a first chamber, a second chamber, at least one aperture, and a piercing end configured to pierce a barrier."
Click
here to read the rest of this article.
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| Fight Over HFCs Could Go to Supreme Court |
2/20/18
By Naomi Millán
Facilitiesnet
A petition for a rehearing of the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to require low-GWP alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) was denied on January 26, 2018 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The original ruling, on August 8, 2017, determined that the EPA can not require the replacement of HFCs in HVAC&R equipment or other uses under the SNAP (Significant New Alternatives Policy) program, according to reporting by Michael Garry at Hydrocarbons 21. The ruling overturned a rule implemented by the EPA in 2015.
Click
here to read the full article.
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Ship Sinks - Alarms, CO2 System Ineffective
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The fire on White Island Tours' boat could be seen on the Whakatane Harbour Cam. Photo: Whakatane Harbour Cam
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1/25/18
By Sally Murphy, Reporter
RNZ
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has found a tour boat which caught fire off the coast of Whakatane did not have a fire alarm - but did not legally have to.
The PeeJay V sank in flames as it was returning from White Island in January 2016.
The commission also found that the CO2 fire suppression system was not effective, because the area was not fully closed off.
"When the CO2 system was triggered it did suppress the fire, but only for a few minutes, the reason for this was there was four ways for fresh air to enter the engine room after the CO2 had been injected into the compartment," the TAIC report said.
Click
here to finish reading this article.
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| FM Global Releases Study on Oxygen Reducing Technology |
2/5/18
By Phil Martin
Asia Pacific Fire
FM Global, one of the world's largest commercial and industrial property insurers, today released new research on oxygen reduction systems, finding them a potentially adequate fire protection method for certain well-sealed, unoccupied spaces.
Oxygen reduction systems (ORS) stream nitrogen into the spaces, lowering the oxygen level to reduce fire risk.
Click
here to finish reading this story.
Click
here to read the full Evaluation of Oxygen Reduction System (ORS) in Large-Scale Fire Tests report.
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| NFPA 75 Compliance |
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2/21/18
By Tate
Cision PR Newswire
JESSUP, Md. -- As a producer of both raised access flooring systems and hot and cold aisle containment solutions, Tate often finds itself faced with questions about fire protection compliance and the role of NFPA 75, Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment. This data center standard is not only the single most important one for the protection of life and property, but also essential to the prevention of downtime in mission critical facilities. According to Underwriters Laboratories, fire is the least predictable cause of downtime and the one that poses the greatest risk to worker safety.
In many ways, NFPA 75 2013 was drafted to address the significant issues presented by the first containment systems manufactured. Since these systems were developed before any safety standards were established, they quickly became a dreaded topic for local authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ's). This document provided much-needed clarification on the fire safety issues presented by creating unprotected spaces within a protected room, or by creating air plenums where none existed before. The 2017 edition provides even further clarification of the rules set forth in 2013.
Finish reading this story
here.
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UL Introduces Data Center Safety Certification
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| The QTS Chicago data center is the first data center to receive UL 3223 certification. (Photo: Rich Miller) |
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2/21/18
By Robert Lindsay
Data Center Frontier
UL certification is coming to the data center. UL, the international safety consulting company, is now offering UL 3223, a comprehensive certification program that looks at all aspects of performance and safety in the data center.
"Our ultimate goal for UL 3223 is to help make data centers more resilient," says Paul Schlattman, Senior Vice President, Practice Leader at ESD Consulting, a division of ESD Global that provides development and M&A services for mission critical facilities, which is partnering with UL to develop the certification. "By undertaking a UL 3223 evaluation, data center owners can certify the areas where they have the most efficiency, and identify the areas where they need to make improvements. If they achieve UL 3223 certification, they can point to that as a mark of excellence for their facilities."
Click
here to read the rest of this story.
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Siemens To Participate in LaGuardia Airport Redevelopment
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A rendering of the future Central Terminal B at LaGuardia International Airport. (Photo: Business Wire)
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2/6/18
By Allison Britt, Siemens Corporation
Digital Journal
NEW YORK -- Siemens is working with Skanska Walsh Joint Venture, the design-build contractors for the redevelopment of Central Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, to deploy a Siemens Intelligent Infrastructure Solution that includes an integrated building automation and fire / life safety system in the new central terminal complex at LaGuardia International Airport. As part of New York Governor Cuomo's continuing redevelopment of LaGuardia International Airport, the new central terminal complex is designed to completely transform the airport into a world-class transportation hub that will more easily serve the tens of millions of travelers that pass through the airport each year.
Click
here to read the rest of the article.
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| A-1 Fire (Waco, TX) Sees Continued Growth |
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| Cathy Restivo signs checks at her desk with A-1 Fire and Security Equipment Company, which employs 90. Photo by Ken Sury |
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2/1/18
By Ken Sury
Waco-Tribune Herald
A-1 Fire and Security Equipment Company continues to grow under the leadership of co-owner Cathy Restivo, but she's proud that the family-owned business always puts family first.
"We always emphasized family comes first," said Restivo, who is co-owner with her ex-husband, John Restivo. "We let employees take time with the kids, whether it's the first day of school or the last day of school, or if they are sick. We're pretty flexible."
Restivo believes that policy has served the company well.
Read the full story by clicking
here.
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FirePro (UK) Aerosol Suppression Wins LPCB Approval
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 1/23/18
By FirePro
Cision PR Newswire
LONDON -- The Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) has granted its approval to the environmentally friendly FirePro® condensed aerosol technology fire suppression units and they are now listed in their Red Book. This is yet another endorsement from a highly respected worldwide, independent approvals board, of FirePro's dedication to meet the most stringent requirements of key European and International standards.
FirePro is the first and only condensed aerosol fire suppression technology to be granted the industry trusted LPCB approval. The FirePro BoxType units exhibit unmatched system-design modularity potential and incorporate the green technology FPC compound that is certified for an impressive 15-year lifetime.
Read the full article
here.
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Viking Picks Site for New Corporate Headquarters
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| A rendering of the new Viking Group headquarters the company plans to build in Caledonia. (Courtesy: Viking Group) |
1/26/18
By Shandra Martinez
MLive Media Group
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, MI -- Fire protection product manufacturer and distributor Viking Group, Inc. plans to build a new headquarters in Caledonia Township.
"The new facility will free up space in our Hastings location, which will continue to house manufacturing operations, and will be conducive to the future expansion of our manufacturing footprint," said Viking Group CEO James Golinveaux in a statement.
Read the rest of the story by clicking
here.
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| How the Oil Price Slump Almost Crushed One Fire and Security Company - And How They Fought Back |
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Manohar Bidaye (left), chairman, Zicom Electronic Security Systems, and Pramoud Rao, the managing director. Photo by Narendra Bisht
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2/9/18
By Pavan Lall
Fortune India
Security systems firm Zicom hit rock-bottom when its WestAsia business was crushed by the oil slump. But it hopes to climb back.
It was 11:30am On a hot July day in 2015 when Manohar Bidaye pulled into his Goregaon office in his silver Mercedes-Benz just like any other day. He took the elevator to the fifth floor and made his way to the chairman's cubicle at Zicom Electronic Security Systems' corporate headquarters. Bidaye, then, propped open his laptop and went straight to an e-mail from Jeff Sheldon, general manager for fire and security at Tyco International's office in the United Arab Emirates.
It wasn't good news. A proposed $120 million (Rs 758 crore) deal that involved selling Zicom's West Asian operations had been put on hold for no obvious reason except instructions from headquarters to hit the brakes on all global acquisitions.
Read the rest of this story
here.
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| Red Hawk Continues on Acquisition Trail |
 1/17/18
By Paul Ragusa
Security Systems News
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Red Hawk Fire & Security LLC, a leader in fire, life safety and security services based here, announced the purchase of two companies to build upon its capabilities in the special hazard fire suppression business and the integrated security services arena.
In separate transactions, Red Hawk announced the purchase of Anaheim, Calif.-based Diversified Protection Systems, Inc., and ATCi Communications, Inc., headquartered in Miami, Florida. The two purchases represent Red Hawk's fifth and sixth acquisitions in the last 20 months as the company continues to grow both organically and through strategically aligned acquisitions.
Read the full story
here.
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| Most Popular Stories from January 2018 |
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