United Kingdom (UK) Fire Industry News

Planning and practising an escape route can vastly increase chances of surviving a fire Planning an escape route could be the difference between life and death if there's a fire in your home, according to London Fire Brigade. Andy Hickmott, London Fire Brigade's Assistant Commissioner for Community Fire Safety, said: "Firefighters attend around 110 accidental home fires in London each week, some of which are serious and sadly sometimes even fatal. Fire can strike wh...

Video smoke detection is gaining popularity in the fire detection field Video smoke detection is still in the process of research and development. A VSD guidance has been published by the FIA. Although it has been in use for a number of years, until recently VSD was still seen as an emerging technology. Research into this area continues and few commercial systems are available, but it is increasingly becoming a recognised solution for both interior and exterior appl...

Regulatory Reform Order was discussed at Community Link with London's business community London Fire Brigade will outline how important it is for businesses to understand the law and their role in fire safety. Forging stronger community links and explaining important fire safety legislation were top of the agenda when London Fire Brigade hosted a reception for an organisation that represents Islington's minority business community on Friday 23 April. The event, called Commun...

Graham Franklin, Director Global Sales, Crowcon, will now oversee all of Crowcon's global sales and service Graham will bring to the new role his extensive product and market knowledge acquired at Crowcon.   Gas detection specialist Crowcon Detection Instruments has appointed Graham Franklin as Director of Global Sales. Graham already has a wealth of experience with Crowcon, having held various senior positions within the company, including Service Manager...

Fifty-six firefighters form London Fire Brigade took a 26.2 mile course of Marathon 2010 Fifty-six firefighters and non-uniformed staff of London Fire Brigade took the challenge to run the 26.2-mile course to raise cash for thirty-nine charities and good causes. Over fifty members of London Fire Brigade's staff took part in this year's London Marathon, raising around £50,000 for various charities. Fifty-six firefighters and non-uniformed staff took the challenge to...

Steve Hamm and Jim Knighton have newly been appointed assistant commissioners of London Fire Brigade The new Assistant Commissioners will be major players in the day-to-day running of London Fire Brigade.  The London Fire Brigade has appointed two new Assistant Commissioners, with both staff in post from 4 May. Jim Knighton has taken up the post of Assistant Commissioner for Operational Policy. Jim, who has served in the capital since 1984, has been promot...

Fire prevention in casinos is important to protect employees and visitors Chubb Fire is part of UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. Chubb Fire has secured an extensive fire protection and security contract for Genting Casinos in the UK on the strength of excellent industry knowledge and a trustworthy reputation. Chubb Fire is part of UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX). Originally, Chubb was approached to bid for t...

Sean Knott has joined the company to arrange recruitment of fire and security personnel The security recruitment team will specialise in the recruitment of fire & security sales and marketing professionals. London-based recruiters career: Talent has appointed a Senior Consultant to launch its Security recruitment team, which will specialize in the recruitment of fire & security sales and marketing professionals. Sean Knott joins the company with five years of Fi...

iVENCS provides 3D visualisation of critical and disaster situations ASL's iVENCS is a sensor and event fusion environment in which voice, data and video can be filtered, analysed and directed from across the full spectrum of subsystems. iVENCS will be displayed at IFSEC 2010. ASL Safety & Security at Hall 5 Stand D85 will be unveiling iVENCS, the first in a new generation of 3D-based situation management and integrated control platforms. iVENCS is an infrastructure-scale...

Bulk foam units will ward off emergency fire situations across London The highly specialised vehicles introduced in London Fire Brigade enable firefighters to tackle emergencies like aircraft crashes, chemical spills or fires on large industrial sites with large amounts of foam.   Three bulk foam unit appliances go on the run in London this week backed by new training and staffing capabilities dramatically improving London's ability to fight major fires or spil...

The optical beam smoke detector detected the fire in the unmanned  factory Fireray 5000, manufactured by Fire Fighting Enterprises Ltd., is an advanced optical beam smoke detector. Acetone in a production area of a factory in west Hull caught fire, however no-one was injured and the building escaped intact. A recently-installed Fireray 5000 optical beam smoke detector sounded the alarm at 8.45 am, when the area had been temporarily unmanned. When workers had left the...

A total of 30 apprenticeships will be created for fire system and security engineers  A total of 30 apprenticeships are being made available across Chubb's fire, security, and integrated technologies businesses. Chubb is expanding its award-winning engineering apprenticeship scheme to include apprenticeships for fire systems engineers, as well as security engineers, for the first time in the company's history. Chubb is part of UTC Fire & Security, a unit...

  The majority of UK's fire and rescue services use managed PPE service centres A substantial increase in the level of demand for managed care services from across the emergency services for personal protective equipment (PPE) is behind Bristol's decision to open a new service centre in the South East to effectively double the level of care contracts the company can service and which is ideally located to supplement the service currently available in the South West. Th...

Tesco has been fined for breaches of fire legislation including not carrying out fire risk assessment The retailer Tesco has been fined £95,000 and ordered to pay £24,321 in costs after pleading guilty to serious breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the "RRO").   London Fire Brigade prosecuted Tesco following a fire and subsequent inspection of a supermarket at Colney Hatch in Barnet. Firefighters were called to a fire at t...

Module M210E-CZR is manufactured by System Sensor Europe M210E-CZR, which was exhibited at FDIC 2010, allows an existing conventional zone to be interfaced to the addressable system, enabling it to be installed in stages without loss of protection. System Sensor Europe has introduced an updated conventional zone interface module, the M210E-CZR, designed for use in addressable fire systems to enable a zone of conventional two-wire detectors to be managed by the contro...

LFB has launched a new video on YouTube highlighting the importance of smoke alarms Six out of ten people who died in fires in last year had no smoke alarm fitted in their home, according to new figures released by London Fire Brigade. The statistics also show that over half of the people who were injured by fires in the home last year didn't have this simple life saving device either. London Fire Brigade is warning Londoners that they are risking their lives by not e...

Check out the new fire alarm solutions from Teletek at the IFSEC 2010 show Teletek Electronics will attend the IFSEC 2010 show, 10-13 May, Birmingham, with a new range of fire alarm products. IFSEC 2010, Hall 5, Stand J5, 10-13 May, NEC, Birmingham, UK will be the place where Teletek will wait for you to see its new products - intruder and fire alarm solutions , discuss future cooperation, and meeting with you - its Partners....

Community Fire Safety Technician Officer Charlie Cartwright receives the High Sheriff Good Citizen Award Shropshire firefighters and a fire control operator were praised for their dedicated service during a special presentation on March 31 of Long Service and Good Conduct Medals by the Shropshire Lord Lieutenant, Algernon Heber-Percy. He thanked them for their loyalty and bravery in carrying out service to the community and praised families for their support. "I don't be...

Cable safety initiative by Prysmian has helped in maintaining EU standards and norms for cables Prysmian recognises the problem of non-approved cables and consequently is spearheading the Approved Cables Initiative drive in the (ACI) UK. Prysmian won the support of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne, in its drive to ensure cable systems purchased and installed throughout the UK are safe, fit-for-purpose and fully compl...

The FIA seminar was attended by people from across the fire service industry The seminar was given by Martin Duggan, General Manager of the FIA, and was well attended by representatives from many different sectors of the fire protection industry. Despite risk assessment being the fundamental platform on which fire safety measures are based under the Fire Safety Order, to date there has been no definition as to what constitutes a ‘suitable and sufficient' fire risk...

The topics at FIA/BAFSA seminar will include legal obligations, responsible person and fire risk assessments The free seminar, entitled ‘Fire Safety in Warehouses', will take place at Tranmere Rovers Football Club, Birkenhead on Wednesday 19 May. It is designed to provide all the latest information for the responsible persons: owners, operators, health & safety managers, building designers and consultants of such facilities along with those who use third party w...

Catherine Levin brings a wealth of fire-policy experience to the London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade has appointed a new Deputy Head of Community Fire Safety. Catherine Levin joined the Brigade in March and reports directly to the Brigade's head of Community Fire Safety, Assistant Commissioner, Andy Hickmott.Prior to joining the brigade, Catherine worked as a civil servant for ten years and has five years experience working in fire policy at the Department of...

Fire Safety Regulatory Reform has created major positive changes in fire safety The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order came into force in October 2006 and replaced over 70 separate pieces of fire safety legislation. London Fire Brigade is warning London's business and premises owners that by not paying attention to fire safety laws, they are not only putting lives at risk but could also face heavy fines. The Brigade has revealed that last year in London the co...

Whitchurch fire station will display Alfred Thompson's picture and fire service memorabilia Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service celebrates the UK's longest serving firefighter at a special awards ceremony held at Telford Central fire station on March 31. Queen Victoria was on the throne when Alfred Thompson joined the Shropshire fire brigade as a 16-year-old serving in Whitchurch for a record 57 years. Doreen Oliver (68) presented a framed photograph of her gra...

The kit, supplied by Bristol Uniforms, has undergone rigorous testing and evaluation London's firefighters now have a new look following the introduction of their new-style fire kit this week. The new blue fire kit will be worn by the men and women of London Fire Brigade when responding to ‘999' calls. It replaces the previous kit which came into service in 1999. The kit is supplied by Bristol Uniforms and was selected following rigorous testing...

From (L to R) Mark Whittall with Charlie Harwood and Tooting Station Manager, John Day Charlie spent the war years fighting fires in London, attending many of the major blazes and incidents, including those during the Blitz. 100-year-old Charlie Harwood, who served as a fire fighter in Tooting during World War two, visited Tooting fire station recently to celebrate his 100th birthday with fire fighters from the station's green watch. Charlie was presented with a comme...

International Truck and Engine Corporation is a Navistar company which manufactures world-class trucks Proper image building is related to maintenance and presentation of trucks, which is of utmost importance to International Truck and Engine Corporation. No matter what industry you're in, the image your trucks project have a big impact on your success. "Image is a complex thing," explains Jim Heckmann, the head of the Iowa Small Business Development Center. "It's not...

London Fire Brigade's MTE scheme will break one-point entry into fire services London Fire Brigade is launching a ground breaking management recruitment campaign designed to tap in top talent from other industries. The Multi-Tier Entry (MTE) scheme aims to attract high-capability people from different backgrounds to bring in expertise, as well as new leadership and management styles. Chairman of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Brian Coleman AM FRSA said: "This...

The ABI published their report 'Tackling Fire: A Call for Action' The ABI have published a report entitled 'Tackling Fire: A Call for Action' which expresses the concerns of the insurance industry that even though the numbers of fires in the UK has fallen, the costs of fires have risen. The report concludes that the current challenging economic climate is likely to have a significant impact on the number and cost of fires and has the potential to have an impact on...

SPIE Matthew Hall undertook full design, supply and installation of the sprinkler system Client's core business British Land are a major UK listed property company, investing in prime, modern properties. Contract description A 127,000 sq ft new top specification office development built by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd to be protected by means of an automatic sprinkler system throughout. Services provided SPIE Matthew Hall undertook full design, supply and installation of the...