Spotlight on Fire Sprinklers
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In this Issue:
- Supporting Bill to Help Illinoisans Sprinkler Their Homes!
- Loveland, CO Leaders Learn the Value of Fire Sprinklers
- 96 Years Ago!
- Sprinkler System Contains Condo Kitchen Fire
- Who Said it?
- Top Myers to Receive Technical Services Award
Supporting Bill to Help Illinoisans Sprinkler Their Homes!
A proposed bill in Illinois would let homeowners who add a fire sprinkler to their house be reimbursed half of the cost of the system on their state income taxes, up to $10,000. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) and Sen. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago). Our Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board’s Erik Hoffer and Jamie Brown have been active in support of the bill with media outreach and side-by-side burn demos to educate the public and legislators. Thanks go to the Springfield, IL Fire Department for their help in making this outreach a success!
Loveland, CO Leaders Learn the Value of Fire Sprinklers
Leadership Loveland learned about their public safety partners, including stopping at the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority training grounds to see our live fire sprinkler burn demo. The group is a part of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce.
It was an honor to conduct a demonstration for Leadership Loveland and the Loveland Fire Department. Thanks to the coordination and work of Rob Geislinger (Field Service Coordinator for Area 10) and the logistical efforts of Brian Biggs (Southeastern Regional Manager for Area 3) and Marty Blackwell (Special Projects Coordinator) it was great to be able to present the mobile side-by-side demonstration unit to the State of Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety. Director Byron Matthews and staff were on hand to learn about the operations of the trailer and to tow it to it’s new home in Wyoming.
Thanks also to our partners at the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, who assisted Rob with the trailer in Colorado, the team was able to conduct two additional burns in other parts of the state. It is amazing to see the change in attitude and how many myths are dispelled by these powerful demonstrations of our industry.
“They know the red trucks, they see that, but they don’t know the full aspect of what we do…To educate them as the future leaders of the community I think it is absolutely critical so they know the full depth of what the organization does.” ~Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach
96 Years Ago!
Bullock’s Wilshire Department Store Made It’s Debut…and YES, It Was Sprinklered!
Thanks go to The Kauffman Co.’s John Kauffman and Jeff Mauney for sending in this great piece of fire sprinkler history!
A photo of Bullock’s Wilshire department store in Los Angeles on opening day 1929. Probably one of the first sprinklered buildings in L.A. Look at those beauties! Also…who else is glad our suitcases have wheels on the now–look at those monsters.
Sprinkler System Contains Condo Kitchen Fire
On March 12th, the Lake Oswego, Oregon Fire Department responded to a fire, which appeared to have been cooking related, on the top floor of a four-story complex. A unit occupant tried to put out the fire to no avail, but the building’s fire sprinkler system mostly did the trick.
Fire Marshal Gert Zoutendijk said that the fire was nearly put out by the time firefighters arrived on scene and they completed that task within three minutes.
“Without the sprinklers, they would have lost the majority of the building including the top floor and potentially some lives,” Zoutendijk said.
Thanks to NFSA member Lake Oswego Fire Marshal Gert Zoutendijk for sending in this save!
Who Said That?
“If there was a fire in this room right now, the temperature got to 135 degrees and the sprinkler head was up there, within one to four minutes that sprinkler head will go off and control the fire 96 percent of the time,” ~Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney
Sprinklers Save Local Business
Rochester Fire was dispatched to a report of a closet fire inside a commercial space. Crews arrived and reported smoke in the building with an evacuation in progress. They located the fire and extinguished it with a pressurized water can. Other RFD crews searched for victims and worked to locate the fire sprinkler system controls and shut it off. Fans were set up in the building to ventilate the structure. The fire caused a small amount of damage to the contents of the closet, there was some water damage to the first floor and basement. There were no injuries to civilians or fire personnel. Automatic fire sprinkler systems aid greatly in limiting the growth of fires and provide occupants valuable time to evacuate during a fire. In this incident, fire damage was limited to the room of origin and it serves as another great example of how sprinkler systems can save lives and property.
Thanks to Rochester, MN Fire Marshal Chris Ferguson for sending us this sprinkler save.
Week in Review
3/15 Barnstable, MA-Sprinkler System Controls Restaurant Fire
3/14 Billings, MT-Sprinkler System Extinguishes Fire at Linen Supply Company
3/13 Phoenix, AZ-Sprinkler System Extinguishes Arson Fires
3/12 New Providence, NJ-Sprinkler System Controls Warehouse Fire
3/12 Safety Harbor, FL-Sprinkler System Controls Sauna Fire
3/12 Rochester, MN-Sprinkler System Controls Fire in Closet of Local Business
3/12 Yuma, AZ-Single Sprinkler Extinguishes Apt Kitchen Fire
3/12 Oak Bluffs, MA-Single Sprinkler Contains Restaurant Fire
3/10 Petaluma, CA-Sprinkler Save in Tiny Home
3/10 Minneapolis, MN-Sprinkler System Contains Warehouse Fire
’23 Russell P. Fleming Technical Service Award Honoree: Top Myers
We are proud to present our 2023 Russell P. Fleming Technical Service Award recipient and can’t wait to honor him at our NAFSE23 Awards Banquet!
With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Top Myers is known nationwide as a risk mitigation expert. Top served as president of Myers Risk Services since 1983. As a consultant, he served as a Risk Manager & Vice President for RelMark Group until 2017 – when he co-founded Risk Suppression Partners, which offers insurance for fire sprinkler contractors. He also worked as the first Fire Protection Product Manager for Victaulic, and a manager for Central Sprinkler in the early days of his career. Top has taken a leadership role in the risk industry, and has served on the NFPA 25 Committee since its founding, as well as a past member of NFPA-13, and currently NFPA 72. He routinely speaks at industry conferences, serves as an expert witness, and provides thought leadership on where the industry is going.
This week by the numbers:
Our Twitter Posts Reached 8,800
Our Facebook Posts Reached 9,798
Our LinkedIn Posts Reached 37,282
Our LinkedIn Group Has 13,740 Members
Check out this week’s TOP TWEET, with 1,162 views!
