On March 9, 2022, NFSA President Shane Ray and the team paid an on-site visit to welcome President Damon Pietraz with Underwood Fire Equipment in Wixom, Michigan, as a  fire pump supplier and fire equipment manufacturer member and tour their brand new 40,000 square foot facility and company headquarters, which features a state of the art training room with an impressive hands-on fire pump training area. The area holds three sets of fire pumps, control panels, a pressure limiting diesel engine, and a variety of control valves and accessories.

Pictured: NFSA President Shane Ray (left) and Underwood Fire Equipment President Damon Pietraz (right).

Underwood Fire Equipment (Underwood Fire) was founded in 1994 by Darrell Underwood as a retirement project in his basement. As Underwood Fire grew, they brought on board a young and hungry college student, Damon Pietraz, in 2000. While completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, Damon’s attention was focused on growing the sales sector at Underwood Fire. Before long, and with a little forward-thinking, the company had doubled in size making Underwood Fire one of the largest fire pump suppliers in the world.

Growing the Business

In 2011, Damon Pietraz became President of Underwood Fire and entered into a purchase agreement with his mentor, Darrell. Through his astute, progressive leadership, the organization expanded its scope of services beyond being a fire pump supplier. Damon saw

Pictured from left to right: Shane Ray, Lance Gunnells, Ron Ritchey, and Damon Pietraz.

an unmet need for emergency pump trailers, low-cost control valves, and fittings, and custom fabricated parts. He began to develop the emergency trailers himself, adding full-time AutoCAD engineering and metal fabrication to their repertoire. The first all-inclusive, self-containing fire water pump system was engineered and fabricated completely in-house in 2013. By controlling all facets from the design, material acquisition, fabrication, and production of these units, expedites the timeline to the site and lowers the costs to the users. At the beginning of 2014, Underwood Fire became international, selling equipment and services throughout the western hemisphere.

Damon sits on the NFPA 20 & 25 Technical Committees, and also been involved in a NFPA Certification Advisory Group for Water-Based Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance Certification (WBITM).

For more information on Underwood Fire Equipment, visit their website here.