Fire Safety Planning - Case Studies

Has the advent of “cloud computing” reduced the need for automatic fire suppression systems in data centers? There have been many discussions in the Information Technology, Telecom, and Fire Suppression industries recently regarding this topic. With data stored and backed up in multiple, different physical locations, one line of thinking says there is less need for an automatic fire suppression system. A fire or other catastrophic event, at worst, results in the loss of relatively i...

Wharton Esherick (1878-1970) was an artist who produced paintings, decorative frames, woodcuts, sculptures, and furniture. While Esherick’s work is displayed in major American museums and private collections, a large compilation of his work is found in his studio. His studio has been preserved and maintained since his death, enabling visitors to learn more about the artist’s life as well as view his work. With so many valuable artifacts and artwork in one studio, a superior fire pro...

Southern Supply Company is a wholesale distributor located in Springfield, Missouri. Southern Supply has a critical data center through which it handles all of its business activity, from shipping and receiving to accounting, for its 12 locations in Missouri and Kansas. Because it is key to the operation of its business, Southern Supply decided to protect its data center with a clean agent fire suppression system, rather than just a traditional sprinkler system. By choosing a clean-ag...

On the evening of April 3, 2009, a financial institution located in downtown Chicago was protected from the possibility of a large fire. Earlier that evening, an electrical component in the self-contained air conditioning unit had overheated and caught fire. The AC unit was located near highly sensitive equipment in a computer room. Fortunately, the computer room was protected with a Fike clean agent suppression system, using the gaseous chemical suppressant, DuPont™ FM-200® — d...

The Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE)™ in Lafayette, LA is a state-of-the-art 3D immersive visualization resource center featuring one of the world’s first six-sided, digital virtual reality cubes, as well as the world’s largest digital 3-D theatre. This leading-edge visualization environment is powered by one of the largest shared memory resources in the world, a 4.1TB of RAM high-performance computing system. The LITE facility, a State entity governed by a B...

On December 2018, the Stuart Fire Department was called to a single-vehicle MVA just west of Menlo. The vehicle was a 2001 Chevy Silverado X 2. The vehicle had hit a guard rail and cleared a creek and landed on its top entrapping both patients. Stuart Fire had cribbed around the vehicle and were using rescue jacks to help with the lifting to provide an opening to extricate the patients. There still was no large enough opening to get the patients out the window. Amkus spreaders The rescuers th...

In 2005, the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District (CJCFPD) updated the dispatching system at its Adams Dairy Parkway location in Blue Springs, Missouri. The updates included creating a state-of-the-art 911 call center complete with a sophisticated computer, CAD network and emergency response equipment. Mindful of the necessity to protect the high-value, new equipment and its important service to the community, CJCFPD called on long-term partner, Fike Corporation, and their local dist...

Fike Corporation recently earned the right to protect a large and unique library complex located in Mexico. The library is a four story structure built to house millions of literary volumes, and also includes an auditorium, administrative offices, library stacks and reading rooms. The library also boasts large centralized computer services designed to bring greater computer access to the library visitors. The unique library architecture, high-tech equipment and massive literature collection pre...

A U.S.-based division of a cosmetic manufacturer employs high-value data center technology to maintain their day-to-day operations. Protecting this high-value asset equipment from fire is essential and had been accomplished with a Halon fire extinguishing system. However, it is now known that Halon is damaging the ozone and adding to the global warming problem. In response, the European Community issued regulation 2037/2000, making the removal of Halon mandatory by 2003. The European-based corp...

The new Mystique Community Ice Center opened its doors in Dubuque, Iowa just in time to meet the chill that’s in the air. Home to the United States Hockey League’s expansion team, the Fighting Saints, the 3,200 seat arena is dedicated to all things ice. Since the Ice Center, like any sporting venue, may contain large amounts of people at any given time, the Local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) required a voice evacuation system be included in the overall life safety solution pr...

On September 24th, 2004 BRS-Intron, a computer company based in Visby, Sweden, averted what could have been a major disaster. Because it is a full-service company, specializing in complete product solutions, servicing and financing, BRS-Intron’s business is heavily dependent on the continuous operation of its business systems. For this reason, it chose Fike Corporation’s FM-200® (HFC-227ea) clean agent fire suppression system for the protection of its computer equipment. This fa...

Motorola Solutions has signed a five-year maintenance, support and TETRA digital radio system upgrade agreement with the Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania to modernize and maintain the country’s nationwide TETRA digital radio network. The network provides Lithuania’s public safety organizations such as the State Border Guard Service police, fire and rescue departments as well as ambulances and state la...

The vital role that infra-red transit heat sensors can play in protecting waste management sites from the threat of fire has been illustrated by an incident at a dry mixed recycling (DMR) plant. The nature of waste recycling means that the range of materials being processed is varied. In this case a 18v lithium ion battery was shredded, with the resulting damage causing the battery to arc. With no protection fitted to the shredder outfeed, the battery was carried into a dosing bunker where it c...

WAGNER Rail GmbH, based in Haar near Munich, has installed a fire protection solution in a people mover in Russia for the first time: at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. Ensuring passenger safety Since May 2018, the so-called Cable Liner has been running fully automatically on a route of around two kilometers, connecting the northern and southern terminal complexes. It is the first Cable Liner to run underground in a tunnel. To make the journey as safe as possible for passengers, the producer,...

Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, has announced that it has secured an order of 11 custom apparatus for Greenwood County Fire Service in South Carolina. The order is made up of custom apparatus including five Saber FR pumpers, four Pierce dry-side tankers, an Ascendant 107’ aerial ladder, and a Pierce 100’ heavy-duty rear mount aerial tower. This monumental apparatus order for Greenwood County Fire Service has been placed in partnership with South Carolina&rs...

The Storm Lake Fire Department in Storm Lake, Iowa has expanded its fleet’s ability to respond to the variety of incoming calls it receives, after purchasing two custom-built Toyne apparatus. The department received delivery of a pumper tanker and a rapid attack in mid-November of 2018. These new trucks were a welcome sight to the ever-alert Storm Lake Fire Department, which responded to over 170 calls in 2017. Tanker Characteristics Storm Lake’s new pumper tanker is mounted on a S...

A powerful network of C-TEC’s ZFP addressable fire panels is safeguarding Sunbury Manor School in Middlesex. Programmed with sophisticated cause and effects to suit the school’s special requirements, the 4-loop touch-screen control panels connect to a series of detection devices including 250 of C-TEC’s EN54-23 certified visual alarm devices to provide top quality fire protection at the 1025-pupil capacity school. Emergency Lockdown Policy The system also has a lockdown facil...

The South Holland Fire Department, located south of Chicago, Illinois, employs 24 full-time and 19 paid-on-call firefighters. These employees staff two stations 24 hours a day and respond to nearly 4,500 calls annually. The department protects approximately 22,000 residents with a response area comprised of over 8,000 homes, industrial facilities and commercial businesses. Just a few miles to the west, the Midlothian Fire Department, located in the village of Midlothian, Illinois, maintains two...

Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, has delivered five Pierce Enforcer pumpers and an Ascendant 107’ Aerial Ladder to the City of Mobile, Alabama’s Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD). The delivery represents the first Pierce apparatus to be put into service for the department. Enforcer pumpers Mark Sealy, Fire Chief, the City of Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD), said “As our fleet began to age, we understood the critical need to put apparatus into...

The Bonnieville Fire Department in Bonnieville, Kentucky recently added a new Toyne Pumper to its fleet, expanding its firefighting power. The department welcomed its first Toyne fire truck, in late November. Pumper Features Toyne manufactured Bonnieville’s custom pumper on a Freightliner M2 106, four-door chassis. The apparatus uses a Cummins ISL9 350 horsepower engine and is driven by an Allison 3000 EVS transmission. Designed for firefighting versatility, this Toyne Pumper boasts a Ha...

One of the world’s most famous hotel-chains, DoubleTree by Hilton, part of Hilton Worldwide, has selected a high-performance fire system from industry renowned fire systems provider, Advanced at their eight-story, 366-rooms hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The challenge was to replace an existing system, integrate speakers to all guest rooms and ensure that all audio messages and strobes were fully synchronized across the hotel, in the event of a fire situation, without the need for costly...

For a volunteer fire department in Ried, leaving gloves, shoes, and boots to air dry is now a thing of the past, thanks to the drying panels from Wintersteiger AG, which have been in use since the beginning of November 2020. Regional Fire Inspector and Fire Chief, Josef Leherbauer is delighted with the successful solution. He said, “To save energy, we chose one small and one large dryer that can be used as required. Both are equipped with different nozzles for gloves and boots. As the dry...

The Elsberry Fire Protection District in Elsberry, Missouri has added additional firefighting power to its fleet with the arrival of two new Toyne apparatus. The pumper and pumper tanker will allow the department to expand its firefighting capabilities. The Elsberry Fire Protection District covers 110 square miles in eastern Missouri. Pumper features Toyne built Elsberry’s pumper tanker and pumper on Spartan Metro Star chassis. Containing the power of Cummins ISL9 450 horsepower engines...

To reduce the fire risk, and comply with regional regulations, a Mpumalanga macadamia-nut processing company called on risk consulting specialist ASP Fire during the planning of its processing plant to implement a turnkey solution. This involved designing compartmentalization, safety distances, access routes, and the installation of the fire-detection system itself. “Macadamia nuts have a high fat content of 70%,” says ASP Fire CEO Michael van Niekerk, which poses a high fire risk i...

There are many sources of wood as a biomass energy source. Larger pieces can be harvested directly or come as stumps and branches from forest clearing. While smaller chips and sawdust can come from many different industrial processes. Since it is very bulky, wood biomass is normally sourced locally to reduce transportation costs. What is the biggest risk? Biomass in bulk is a dangerous material that can ignite and burn spontaneously, and fine wood dust – which is often generated during t...

Fairview Fire and Rescue in Monroe, North Carolina has increased its fleet’s firefighting power with the purchase of a new Toyne Pumper Tanker. Fairview received the high-capacity apparatus in mid-September. This addition will boost the fire defense of this robust department, which covers a nearly 35-square-mile district in North Carolina. Pumper Characteristics The new pumper tanker, built on a Peterbilt 367, 6x4 drive chassis, is powered by a Cummins ISX 600 horsepower engine and...

Commfire just completed their latest project in the upgrading of the fire alarm system to future-proof it for the next 10 years. They have to replace the original fire alarm control panel due to age-related issues where the system kept crashing, the usual reboot process (switch off and back on again) would not resolve the problem The fire alarm control panel was replaced with the latest touch screen technology using the Teledate One fire alarm control panel and Apollo protocol (smoke detectors,...

On September 2, 2018, the world watched as flames engulfed the National Museum of Brazil and 90 percent of its artifacts from around the world. Recovery efforts are still underway, but almost certainly lost were the museum’s massive butterfly and arthropod collections numbering in the millions, a 3,500-year-old Chilean mummy, an 811,500-year-old skull said to be the oldest in existence from the Americas, several dinosaur skeletons, a 2,700-year-old sarcophagus among hundreds of other anci...

Dickinson Rural Fire Department is now home to a fifth Toyne apparatus, after receiving a new pumper in mid-August. The department, located in Dickinson, North Dakota, has been a longtime Toyne customer, and its latest apparatus will help bolster its firefighting efforts in and around the city. Features of Pumper Toyne mounted the pumper on a Freightliner 108SD 4x4 chassis with a two-door cab, adding in the power of a Cummins ISL 380 horsepower engine. Driven by an Allison 3000 EVS transm...

One of three barges from which fireworks were launched at Lake Tahoe’s “Lights on the Lake” celebration – one of the nation’s largest Independence Day fireworks displays in the nation – caught fire in the early morning hours of July 5th following the highly choreographed performance. Lake Assault Marine 24 fireboat Fortunately, the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District quickly responded with Marine 24, its new Lake Assault fireboat that was recently placed...