Golden State Fire Apparatus to open second service centre

by Featured NewsProductsVehicles

 Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, has announced authorised dealer Golden State Fire Apparatus, Inc. will open its second service center, a new 45,000-square-foot facility in Tracy, California, to serve customers in central California, particularly the Bay Area.

The project is currently in the design stage with construction expected to be completed in the next 18 to 24 months. It will also serve as Golden State Fire Apparatus’ service hub for the revolutionary Pierce Volterra platform of electric vehicles.

“Opening a service centre in Tracy will increase capacity to our customers and will reduce their travel time for service by at least 50 percent,” said Ryan Wright, President of Golden State Fire Apparatus. “This will decrease turnaround time, getting the apparatus back into service faster, benefiting the communities our customers serve.”

The Tracy, California service centre will be equipped to provide Emergency Vehicle Technician (EVT) certified repairs and servicing on the electric vehicles as their use increases.

Primary benefits of the new Golden State Fire Apparatus service center in Tracy, CA include:

  • 30 additional service bays
  • Increased parts availability
  • Increased service team capacity
  • Fast turnaround for repairs and maintenance
  • Pierce Volterra electric fire apparatus support

Forecasting customers’ needs in the years ahead led the Golden State Fire Apparatus team to select Tracy, California as the location to best serve the company’s southern territory.

“We believe a good process allows us to pivot quickly as we’ve strived to ensure our team has a productive and safe environment to work while maintaining the level of service our customers have come to rely on,” Wright added. “The expansion will allow us to continue improving our support with the ultimate goal of reaching new customers and completing repairs quicker.”

Fifteen buildings in Jeypore in violation of fire safety regulations

by Building ManagementFeatured NewsIndustry Sectors

Following Odisha Fire Service directing all units to carry out a fire safety audit in all important state establishments by 21 May in the wake of a fire at a four-storey commercial building in Dehli, 15 out of 40 buildings that were scanned were found to be violating the safety norms.

The Jeypore unit of Odisha Fire Services on Wednesday slapped notices on 15 government and private buildings including Koraput Medical College and Hospital (MCH) for violating the prescribed norms as it lacks minimum safety measures.

All 15 buildings in violation were served notices to put in place measures and requisite equipment for fire prevention, safety and emergency evacuation in case of emergency.

Kunu Nayak, a fire officer from Jeypore, said the team will again inspect fire safety norms in other parts of the district: “Our staff checked all major government and private establishments and authorities concerned have been asked to maintain the norms for public safety.”

Chairman of Koraput rice millers’ association Girija Sankar Dash, said: “Every building used by public should maintain basic resources to ensure prevention and fire safety measures so that there’s minimum loss to life and property. This is needed not just in urban areas but in remote tribal pockets as well.

“The recent drive by the fire services unit here is a welcome move and should be carried out on regular basis to ensure strict adherence to the rules,” commented social activist Chitaranjan Satpathy.

Kentec Installation Programme hits three year mark

by Featured NewsProducts

Life-critical control systems manufacturer, Kentec, has celebrated the third anniversary of its Kentec Installation Programme (KIP) at this year’s FIREX, now with more than 200 installers registered across 19 countries.

Since its launch at Firex three years ago, installers have been benefiting from the scheme which include training to ensure every installation is optimised to realise the technology’s full potential. The scheme also provides KIP-dedicated technical support (including on-site), and advanced access to the latest Kentec systems and software.

Kevin Swann, Managing Director of Kentec Electronics, said: “In addition to training and support, our KIPs tell us that their membership supports client tenders by demonstrating individual competency on the award-winning Taktis panel and ever-loved Syncro AS, which is fantastic to hear.

“Covid-19 hit while the scheme was still in its infancy, which forced us to look to ways to make virtual training as impactful as possible. That’s opened the doors to so many efficiencies and opportunities – and has helped build the scheme into one that we are very proud of,” he adds. “The team and I are looking forward to speaking to customers and taking them through the highlights of our stand, at what promises to be another fantastic industry event.”

Kentec’s latest wireless Mesh technology was a leading focus on its FIREX stand this year. The team demonstrated how it reduces installation costs and timescales and removes the installation and construction limitations associated with wired systems, including building work, fire stopping and containment systems.

Rosenbauer America appoints Kreikemeier as Chairman and CEO

by Featured NewsPeople

Rob Kreikemeier has appointed to the position of Chairman and CEO of Rosenbauer America, effective immediately. He succeeds John Slawson who has now left the company.

Kreikemeier has worked in the fire industry for decades, with over 50 years of manufacturing and operations experience, including founding R.K. Aerials in 1988, and later joining Rosenbauer in 2000.

The appointment is based on his extensive experience in operations execution, manufacturing, and consistent leadership which will help position Rosenbauer America for continued growth.

Dawn Osborn will be appointed as CEO/President of Rosenbauer Aerials. Mark Fusco, VP of Sales, and Marketing has been added to the Rosenbauer America management board.

The Rosenbauer America Management Board is now made up of:

  • Brian Kueter, CPA Chief Financial Officer
  • Randy Brummel, GM/VP Motors & Supply Chain
  • Scott Oyen, CEO/President of Rosenbauer South Dakota
  • Dawn Osborn, CEO/President of Rosenbauer Aerials
  • Thomas Ruschitzka, Senior VP, North & Middle America, Rosenbauer International
  • Mark Fusco, VP of Sales & Marketing

Baltimore fire industry unions oppose proposed bill

by ActiveFeatured News

Two unions which represent firefighters in Baltimore City have come out in oppositions of a proposed bill, that members of the City Council said will keep department members safe when responding to vacant house fires.

Both the Baltimore Firefighters Association and the Baltimore Fire Officers Association have expressed opposition to the bill known as the Firefighter Safety Act in a May 17 letter to the City Council.

This proposed bill would mandate firefighters to only work from the outside when battling flames from vacant buildings unless they can confirm that someone is inside trapped or that conditions are safe enough to go in. It also calls for firefighters to wear thermal imaging cameras while at fire scenes.

The unions said the bill complicates their existing protocols, and are asking the council to reconsider.

The letter of opposition concluded by saying: “While we can never make an incident scene completely safe from injury or death, we will continue to pursue the latest technology and refine our methods to make it as safe as we can.

“Having said that, the fireground is inherently unsafe. We cannot support legislation that seems poised to unreasonably restrict us from the performance of our duties.”

Auckland firefighter staff-shortages at ‘crisis point’

by Featured News

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union said that the staffing issues in the Auckland fire department has reached a crisis point.

The union made the comment after over the past weekend there were 23 gaps in firefighter coverage, including five fire trucks out of commission due to no staff and several more short-staffed.

The union’s Auckland local secretary Martin Campbell said there has been a lack of investment over the past 10 to 15 years and that now it was hitting rock bottom. He said: “We’ve had no significant increase in the number of career firefighters in Auckland since the 1980s and early 90s, in fact Auckland is less than half the number of career firefighters per capita than the rest of New Zealand.”

On Saturday in Tāmaki Makaurau, there were 98 firefighters on during the day, 20 percent fewer than usual, looking after the region’s 1.7 million people, Campbell said.

“If stations are unstaffed or closed down because we haven’t got enough firefighters, other stations have to respond from longer and further away, it takes longer for Fire and Emergency to get fire trucks to emergency incidents,” he added.

Fire and Emergency region manager Ron Devlin made a comment of reassurance to the community, however, that the service had the capacity and planning in place to respond to emergencies.

“We have capacity built into our capability to allow for coverage on any given day should appliances be committed to large fires or when we routinely take trucks off service temporarily for several reasons – including training our people and maintaining our fleet,” he said in a statement, explaining that fire and emergency has been impacted by staff absences due to Omicron.

He added that

Fire and Emergency New Zealand recruited for career firefighters twice a year and it received applications from many quality candidates: “In fact, we are currently running an additional recruitment for Auckland only, which opened on 1 April and will close on 15 May, with the objective of filling an additional 15 to 20 roles.”

Fire protection company Advanced to drive Middle East expansion

by Featured NewsPeople

Fire protection solutions company Advanced has appointed Sasi Kumar in a move aimed at accelerating growth in the Middle East and Africa as part of its progressive international sales strategy.

Kumar joins Advanced from sister Halma company FFE Ltd. where he successfully grew their specialist beam and flame detector business in his role as Head of Sales for the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

In his new role, it is expected he will draw on his successful track record of nurturing new business to support the expansion plans of Advanced’s existing customers and identify and develop opportunities in new markets.

Attracted by Advanced’s brand strength in the UK and Europe, Kumar said he is keen to replicate the company’s position in those markets across his focus areas: “I have admired Advanced for some time – the reputation of its products and the way it has expanded into new areas and markets.

“I am excited to now be able to play my part in taking the Advanced brand and the Axis range of products to an even wider range of customers – and to extend my focus beyond fire detection to selling entire fire alarm systems.”

Speaking about the appointment, Pete Browitt, Managing Director at Advanced, said: “We have a clear, ambitious international strategy, and growth of our business in the Middle East and Africa is central to its success.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to welcome Sasi to the Advanced team. His knowledge of and passion for the fire industry, combined with his strong commercial acumen and customer focus will be a great asset to us as we widen Advanced’s global reach.

Rosenbauer unveils new portable CAFS system

by Featured NewsProducts

Firefighting equipment manufacturer Rosenbauer is set to launch a new water-powered compressed air foam system on the market.

The new Rosenbauer RFC CAFS Cube S compressed air foam system features wetting agent, a water/foam compound mixture, and also wet and dry compressed air foam which can all be generated by the “little brother” of the all-in-one RFC CAFS Cube.

The Cube S is driven by a water-powered motor rather than a combustion engine. Every fire engine with a fire pump on board can therefore be tactically upgraded with this system.

The Cube S is in part designed as a retrofit solution for existing fire engines. The compact “extinguishing cube” is built on an 8 DIN frame and is fixed in the low-ceiling equipment room by means of standard brackets. 

Since the new compressed air foam system has no combustion engine, it does not generate any exhaust during operation. The water provided by a built-in pump or portable pump is used as energy for the drive.

The new, mobile Rosenbauer compressed air foam system will be on display for the first time at Interschutz 2022 from June 20-25 in Hanover. The RFC CAFS Cube S can be ordered effective immediately.

Coopers Fire to offer free monthly CPD seminars

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Coopers Fire has announced that it will be offering monthly Continuing Professional Development (CPD) seminars.

The CPD seminars are designed for architects and other construction professionals across the specification chain. The seminars are free to attend and we usually require about one hour to present the Active Fire Curtain Barriers CPD seminar, which includes approximately 15 minutes for a Q&A session.

The next monthly CPD seminar will be on Wednesday June 29th from 11am-12pm

A Coopers Fire spokesperson said: “Coopers are the only smoke and fire curtain manufacturer with approval from RIBA to provide CPD Seminars.

“We offer CPD Seminars free of charge and regularly present to an array of different people within the building industry like Architects, Building Control Officers, Building Engineers, Specifiers and the Fire and Rescue Service.

“If you are unable to make the next seminar there will be more available towards the end of the year. Check back later to see the alternative dates and times.”

Pump manufacturer DESMI Africa expands into Nigerian Market

by Featured NewsProductsPumps

Leslie P. Andrews, Managing Director of pumps solutions provider DESMI Africa, has announced that the company is expanding into the Nigerian market and will be opening a second office.

The Nigerian branch will be located in Lagos, and the young startup team consists of Office Manager Najeeba Abdulmajeed Owolabi and the sales team Philbertus Mujuni, Collins Ugochukwu Afoaku and Elijah Sobalaje Ogunniran. 

Commenting on the expansion, Andrews said: “We have sold our solutions to Nigeria for more than 20 years – and it is now time to take further steps into the Nigerian market being even closer to our customers and partners.

He added: “The Nigerian market is a huge market to service, and with the increasing demand for our solutions both within oil spill and pumps, it makes perfect sense to have our presence, team, and knowledge, locally.

“Being here locally, with our own office, is a milestone, and our goals have been set. We have high expectations. We want to be one of the most preferred brands with our flow technology solutions within oil spill response, marine debris trash, engine room pumps for marine and utilities, and much more. An exciting future is ahead of us in Nigeria.”