Dräger launches compact thermal imaging camera

by Featured NewsProductsThermal Imaging

Dräger, an international leader in the fields of medical and safety technology, has launched the UCF FireVista, a thermal imaging camera (TIC) that can be activated one-handed with just one button, providing split-second access to critical visual support within a firefighting incident.

TICs provide vital insight when visibility is significantly reduced due to fire, smoke or darkness, thereby supporting firefighters whilst attending the most challenging environments. They deliver vital intelligence in locating casualties and helping locate the seat of a fire, so that it can be rapidly extinguished.

With the ability to detect even the smallest change in temperature, and providing a clear contrast between walls, doors and stairs, the UCF FireVista proves especially useful in detecting hotspots when a fire is behind cladding or in a building’s void. It therefore limits invasive physical damage as emergency teams have less need to strip out the fabric of a building to reach the fire.  

The UFC FireVista is compact, robust and features an ergonomic design and almost indestructible outer shell. It can withstand mechanical stresses and its IP67 protection class guarantees that is water and dust resistant. A fast frame rate and ultra-high image picture quality deliver a quick overview of an incident even under the most difficult operating conditions.

Weighing only 870g, the UFC FireVista is one of the lightest thermal imaging cameras currently on the market. This helps increase the mobility and reduce the physical strain placed on the firefighter.

The camera has an operating time of approximately five hours, due to its powerful rechargeable battery, which gives enough leeway for longer deployments. The camera is virtually maintenance-free, and the integrated battery has a lifetime of approx. 4000 charging cycles.

The compact and intuitive camera is easy to use and operate, with just one on/off switch, which means it can deliver vital information in seconds. 

Liz Millward, Marketing Manager Emergency and Rescue Services at Draeger Safety UK, says the UFC FireVista is an excellent addition to the range: “Dräger’s thermal imaging cameras are designed to supply firefighters with vital information during any incident where visibility is impaired, whether as a result of smoke or an underground or collapsed environment. The UFC FireVista is an important tool when speed, straightforward functionality and high-quality imaging are required,” she says. 

“Ultimately, it supports firefighters’ ability to save the lives of others and to protect their own safety.”

SFJ Awards completes 1,000th Operational Firefighter Apprenticeship End-Point Assessment

by Featured NewsPeople

SFJ Awards reached an important milestone this week, completing its 1000th End-Point Assessment in Fire and Rescue.

End-Point Assessment (EPA) is the crucial last stage of an apprentice’s journey, testing the knowledge, skills and behaviours gained during their training.

Quality assured by Ofqual, SFJ Awards has been an approved independent End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) since 2018 and has been delivering End-Point Assessments for the Operational Firefighter Apprenticeship since 2019.

As an independent End-Point Assessment Organisation, SFJ Awards has conducted EPAs for Fire & Rescue services across the country, including London Fire Brigade and County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue.

SFJ Awards’ Head of End-Point Assessment Kit Salt comments: “We feel proud that we have been able to play a part in launching the careers of 1,000 firefighters and counting. The Operational Firefighter Apprenticeship Standard is crucial to the ongoing workforce development for Fire and Rescue Services in England.

“Now, more than ever, recruits need hands-on experience to develop the skills, knowledge, and behaviours to perform the role of an Operational Firefighter competently in order to reassure the public that Fire & Rescue services are keeping them safe.”

A Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service (TWFRS) spokesperson comments: “SFJ Awards have played a vital role in shaping and developing the Firefighter Apprenticeship programme at TWFRS. They have made a huge difference in how we operate our development programme and provide support to us at all stages.
They go the extra mile to ensure our Apprentices are as comfortable as can be whilst carrying out their EPA and this starts in the weeks running up to the EPA.

“Overall SFJ Awards have been great, and I feel the highest compliment I feel you can give about a company is to recommend them to another organisation, I have done this on a number of occasions.”

Steel Family Holdings acquires Fire Detection Devices

by Breaking NewsFire DetectionProducts

Canadian-based Steel Family Holdings (SFH) has acquired Fire Detection Devices Ltd.

Fire Detection Devices Ltd. has offered heat detection solutions for over 50 years, and includes the most reliable spot-type heat detectors on the market today. For many in the fire alarm industry, conventional heat detectors are easily recognized by their distinctive heat collecting disc. This design was the brainchild of Jack Duggan. In 1962, Jack incorporated Fire Devices Manufacturing Limited, and began manufacturing his patented design. The “Thermoflex” brand has been made in Canada, by Canadians ever since.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Fire Detection Devices Ltd., a known and trusted Canadian brand, into the SFH group of companies”, said Jason Steel, President. “Our goal with this new venture is to build on the legacy of this industry pioneer, by investing in the original patented heat detector, to make it even more accessible to the market.”

“The past two years have been challenging for those in the manufacturing sector,” said Patricia Duggan, President of Fire Detection Devices. “This shift in the landscape inspired us to find someone who could carry on the work our father, Jack Duggan began over sixty years ago. We feel very fortunate to have met Jason Steel, and we believe SFH will not only continue to produce quality heat detectors but will take Jack’s vision to another level.”

Over the last 5 years SFH has acquired Serva-Lite Sales, SOTA Battery and Battery2000. The company continues to maintain the highest level of service and product quality, growing the business of customers across Canada and throughout North America and other export markets.

Brazil hospital complex installs connected fire alarm system

by Featured NewsHealthcareIndustry Sectors

Brazil’s bustling general practice hospital in São Paulo, the Centro Médico Campinas installed a connected fire alarm system.

Over the past five decades, the hospital campus has undergone significant expansions to add new buildings and specialized healthcare services.

This resulted in installing eleven different, incompatible fire alarm panels across the sprawling campus that required individual monitoring, cleaning, and maintenance.

For seamless, around-the-clock fire safety of the entire premises, clinic operators wanted a unified and future-proof system. The Hospital Centro Médico Campinas chose a system designed by Bosch and implemented by Brazcamp Tecnologia installers in Campinas, Brazil for a completely integrated fire alarm system to provide optimized safety coverage.

The system secures the entire city hospital campus around the clock. All fire detection devices are connected via the Modular Fire Panel 5000 Series from Bosch for improved response times and better maintenance options –including remote maintenance – to the healthcare facility.

The project also required retrofitting of legacy fire prevention equipment and smart connectivity to accommodate the premises’ unique layout. By installing one single, fully customized solution, the hospital:

• Fixed compatibility challenges. Integration and consolidation of all data from connected devices on the fire panel. Thanks to retrofitting of legacy detectors, devices now communicate seamlessly.

• Decentralized access 24/7. Direct access for personnel via remote keypads connected to three desked areas: Main reception, on-site fire department, and operation and control center.

• Entire campus on a single network. Five loop modules cover all areas of Hospital Centro Médico Campinas with panels and detectors, including sensitive environments such as the ICU, operating theater, patient wards, and the hospital laboratory.

• Increased safety response and situational awareness via full integration with gas detection, sprinklers, and access control. As a result, personnel can pinpoint the location of a fire precisely and unlock doors and gates in case of an event for improved evacuation.

As the hospital continues to grow, the flexibility of the new solution allows for future integrations, such as access control and voice alarms.

London warns against home fires to save on heating

by Featured NewsSafety

Fire chiefs in London have warned the public that should not attempt to reduce their energy bills by improvising open fires at home.

The caution comes after a man in south-west London set fire to his property by burning timber in his living room to keep warm. The man was trying to avoid putting on the central heating in his home, fire investigators said.

Fuel poverty campaigners said the incident – one of at least 100 involving open fires, log burners and heaters in the capital in the last few months – laid bare “the harsh and dangerous reality of the cost-of-living crisis”.

Issuing an urgent safety warning, the London fire brigade (LFB) said the cause of the blaze on 26 April had been determined as “involving an open fire being used instead of gas central heating.”

It is understood to have also been caused by combustible items too close to an open fire. The London ambulance service said it treated three people at the property in New Malden, with one man being taken to hospital as a priority.

The LFB said there had been more than 100 fires involving open fires, log burners and heaters in the past few months.

It fears the rise in energy bills could result in a surge of fires as people resort to alternative means to heat their homes throughout the colder spells of the year.

Charlie Pugsley, assistant commissioner for fire safety, said: “We know this is a difficult time and people are thinking about ways to reduce their energy bills, but we’re really concerned that they may be putting lives at risk by doing so.

“If you do have a log burner or an open fire, follow our advice carefully. Almost 30% of fires involving log burners, heaters and traditional open fires are caused by items being placed too close to a heat source. Always use a fire guard and keep anything that could catch alight well away, such as logs and kindling which could be ignited by radiating heat.”

Weber Hydraulik secures ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certifications

by Featured NewsSafety

Rescue equipment manufacturer Weber Hydraulik has secured two crucial environmental and sustainability certifications in ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 at its base in Losenstein, in Austria.

Both certifications comply with environmental guidelines and the efficient use of energy contribute significantly to the sustainable orientation of companies.

“Sustainability is a very important topic for us. We are constantly working on optimizing our processes with regard to the set environmental and energy targets. The ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certifications now show quite objectively that we meet very high requirements in this regard,” says Günther Rebhandl, Head of Quality Management at WEBER- HYDRAULIK, who is pleased with the success.

Environmental risks can be reduced through sustainable environmental and energy management. At the same time, environmental performance is made transparent and targeted improvement measures are devised. Lower consumption of resources such as energy and water, plus the reduction of disposal costs also offer an economic advantage over the competition in the long term.

Environmentally friendly energy and heating technology

At its site in the Enns Valley, the innovative manufacturer goes far beyond the required measures. Photovoltaic systems installed on the roof of the building provide clean electricity from solar energy. With an output of 364 kWp, part of the electricity used in production is self-generated. “The proportion of electricity requirements that can be covered by solar energy has been continuously increased in recent years,” explains Albert Koppenberger, who is responsible for plant maintenance at the Losenstein site.

The heating system is also powered by wood chips in an environmentally friendly manner. “Our entire heating requirements are covered by the wood chip heating system,” Koppenberger continues. This makes the Losenstein site independent of oil and gas.

E-mobility reduces CO2 emissions

In March 2019, it was discovered that transportation causes a large part of the CO2 pollution at the Losenstein site. “By using e-mobility for work trips, we saw great potential to reduce the site’s CO2 emissions. That was the starting signal for the e-mobility campaign,” says Koppenberger. An attractive leasing model for e-cars was worked out for employees at the Losenstein site. In the meantime, around 70 employees have taken advantage of the campaign. The electricity required for the e-cars also comes from the company’s own photovoltaic system. Employees can charge their vehicles free of charge at the 20 newly installed charging points.

“Passing the certifications once again proves the consistently high quality orientation as well as the environmentally friendly and energy-efficient design of all processes in the company,” confirm Kurt Sperrer and Bernhard Obermayr as managing directors at the Losenstein site. “We are convinced that we can also offer our customers a decisive advantage with our sustainable orientation.”

FPA reacts to newly launched Building Safety Bill

by Featured News

Following last week’s development of the Building Safety Bill receiving royal assent, the FPA and other organisations in the industry have issued their responses to the news.

As we reported last week, The Bill received royal assent on 28 April after months of debate and amendments, and has passed into law as the Building Safety Act 2022.

The 252 page Bill is intended to “create lasting generational change” to the way high-risk and residential buildings are constructed and maintained. 

Jonathan O’Neill OBE, Managing Director of the FPA, commented:

“Of course we welcome the passing of the Building Safety Act; better late than never! We do however remain concerned that such a major piece of legislation and change in the regulatory structure needs to be supported by significant additional resourcing, and as far as we can ascertain, such a commitment from government remains outstanding.

“The Act has also been amended so many times that we are still unclear on important aspects, such as the implications of removing the requirement for a Building Safety Manager, and the role of Approved Inspectors going forward.

“Few were in favour of the two-tier approach to Building Regulation initially set out in the original Bill, but accepted the practical reality that given the need to act quickly, high-risk properties would be first through the process with other buildings following in time. 

“Whilst the word ‘proportional’ has been introduced in more recent vocabulary in relation to the widening of applicability of the new legislation, we believe that in order to ensure the safety of occupants and resilience of the wider built environment this needs to happen quickly with the views of all stakeholders given due regard.

“We accept and welcome that more buildings are now in scope, in June it will be five years since Grenfell, and we are only just about to start the process of change.”

Dr Justin Maltby-Smith, Managing Director of BAFE Fire Safety Register also responded to the news, saying: “BAFE share the same mentality of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), in that the Building Safety Act will help usher in the much needed culture change in safety for all stages of a building’s lifecycle.

“BAFE also agree that this culture change requires substantial communication by Government to help educate the full extent of requirements introduced. Whilst the act introduces changes in how residential buildings are built, managed, and regulated, BAFE hope this correspondingly marks the beginning of a stronger concentration on commercial/non-domestic building safety responsibilities.

“The BAFE competency schemes will continue to represent the best levels of quality working within the fire and life safety industry and trust that UKAS accredited third-party certification will become a stronger competency requirement to demonstrate compliance to legislation moving forward.”

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has issued a response to the news, stating: “While we know that there is set to be secondary legislation and guidance, making sure the details of this are right will be essential for industry and firms across the country to effectively implement the changes required.

“The industry will need a clear brief from government on the timeline moving forward, detail as to when the legislation will be ready and information on any consultations that will be brought in to allow industry to support at pace. It’s critical for the RICS and other organisations representing the professions impacted by the Act to have the opportunity to offer their continued support in finding and shaping the solutions alongside government.

“We also need government intervention on finding a solution for PII for those firms who are carrying out wider fire risk and building safety assessments and those carrying out the remediation work, as well as for all those involved in the design, construction, and management of high-risk buildings.”

The RICS also expressed concern that the professional indemnity insurance (PII) market remains too weak to meet the needs of the industry, saying: “It needs delivery of the long-awaited government External Wall Systems PII scheme to support professionals carrying out external wall assessments, which is a fundamental element in enabling industry to make buildings safe and affording consumers the reassurances they have long waited for.”

NFPA receives $225,000 from General Motors

by Americas - ProjectsFeatured NewsProductsVehicles

The NFPA has received a $225,000 grant from General Motors to deliver free electric vehicle training to 12,000 volunteer and underserved U.S. fire departments.

The funding comes at a critical time, as more EVs continue to enter the roadways but many fire departments remain untrained in effectively mitigating associated incidents.

“While firefighters have had more than 100 years to learn how to handle incidents with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, they’ve had very little time to understand and train for those involving EV and hybrid vehicles,” said Andrew Klock, emerging issues lead manager at NFPA. “As electric vehicles increasingly dominate our roads in the coming years, ensuring that fire departments are adequately trained and equipped to deal with them is critically important.”

A 2020 report published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) states that the U.S. fire service is not prepared to fight electric vehicle fires. This issue is more prevalent among volunteer and underserved departments, which often don’t have the resources to receive the needed training; about two-thirds (67 percent) of U.S. fire departments are served by part-time or volunteer firefighters, according to NFPA data.

Through the General Motors grant, NFPA will work in coordination with U.S. fire service organizations and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Cities Coalitions to conduct outreach among targeted audiences to maximize participation in the NFPA Electric Vehicle Safety training program, which will be provided online at no cost for one year.

“Providing free access to our training plays a pivotal role in helping ensure that volunteer and underserved fire departments are adequately trained and prepared to handle EV incidents,” said Klock. “Thanks to General Motors’ generous support, we’ll be able to provide the needed training to thousands of fire departments that otherwise would not be able to access it.”

NFPA is an ANSI-accredited national codes and standards developer for emergency responder qualifications, equipment, and tactics. Over the past 12 years, the association has worked to develop and refine its EV safety program in collaboration with NTSB, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the National Highway and Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST), and numerous national research laboratories. These and associated efforts have earned NFPA widespread recognition among the major fire service organizations in North America as the leading EV safety training program for first responders.

NFPA also serves on the SAE J2990 Committee for EV Safety and continues to engage with the U.S. DOE, DOT, and NHTSA to conduct testing and determine new methods to combat EV incidents.

Magirus completes delivery of 17 fire engines to Austria’s Provincial Fire Brigade

by Breaking NewsProductsVehicles

During the Florianifeier festivity on 4 May 2022, the Provincial Fire Brigade Association of Lower Austria received 17 new Magirus tank pumpers for wildfire applications

The handover was completed in the presence of Provincial Fire Brigade Commander Dietmar Fahrafellner, Diocesan Bishop Dr. Alois Schwarz, Federal Minister Karoline Edtstadler and Deputy Provincial Governor Dr Stephan Pernkopf,

“Climate change is increasingly bringing new demands to the fire service. Vegetation fires are increasing in severity and number and are placing particularly higher demands for the population, for the fire brigades and their equipment. Often, the areas of operation are difficult to access, water sources are not available or hardly accessible and the permanent unpredictability of the fires poses an additional danger”, explains Josef Huber, the Provincial Technology councillor for the Lower Austrian fire brigade association.

The new vehicle concept for the “Forest Firefighting Vehicle”, HLF2-WB, is based on the current existing recommendations for forest firefighting vehicles – coupled with the requirements of the HLF2 according to the construction guidelines of the Lower Austrian Fire Brigade Association, in order to achieve the highest possible benefit and operational utility in everyday use. The main differences to the standard HLF2: all-terrain chassis, extensive equipment which is specially designed for forest fighting and vegetation fires, midship-pump configuration in conjunction with a self-protection extinguishing system, additional heat-protection for aggregates, a cabin with roll-over protection as well as a modular designed interior to increase multiple use of the vehicle.

The ” fast attach vehicle” VFA is built on a Ford Ranger with an innovative exchangeable modular structure. In the basic configuration, a vegetation firefighting module is equipped with tank, centrifugal pump and engine-unit and forest firefighting equipment. The simple module change, the storage possibility and respectively the flexible worktable is realized with a multi-adjustable, mobile work/logistics module. Besides to the forest firefighting module, one of the vehicles is equipped with a commander-module.

The HLF2-WB are equipped with a Treibmatic winch and the VFA are equipped with an electric winch.

With these vehicles, in addition to the forest fire QUAD’s already in service, the Provincial Fire Brigade Association has now a complete and consistent forest firefighting unit, which has already been used in the firefighting operation in Hirschwang an der Rax (district of Neunkirchen). On this occasion, the vehicles have already passed a successful baptism of fire.

“It’s a special honour that the vehicle concept literally met the requirements even before the official ceremonial handover. Now, we can book a follow-up order for additional 8 HLF2-WB and 8 VFA vehicles”, states Christian Reisl, Managing Director of Magirus Lohr GmbH.

Construction Industry Council welcomes Building Safety Act

by Featured NewsSafety

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) welcomes the Building Safety Act, which received Royal Assent today. CIC and its membership of the professional bodies across the built environment have been liaising with officials at DLUCH (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) since the Grenfell tragedy in 2017. CIC has provided input, representing our membership, into the Hackitt Review, the draft bill and the Bill which has, amongst other things, sought to implement her recommendations.

CIC is also particularly pleased that the establishment of a New Homes Ombudsman is taken forward in the Act, since this implements the main recommendation from the ‘More Homes, fewer complaints’ report.

The Act represents a paradigm shift in the way in which residential buildings are to be designed, built, managed and regulated. However, despite the scale of the Act (262 pages) and the vast number of amendments that have been made to it, there is still a great deal of detail to be determined through secondary legislation which CIC and its members stand ready to further assist government by providing expert opinion to enable government to get this detail right.

One issue that needs to be addressed is that, despite the five years that have elapsed since Grenfell, the wider industry is still ill-prepared for the changes to come. In tandem with the transitional period of 18-24 months for the implementation of secondary legislation there needs to be a considerable communication exercise to create the necessary culture change in the industry and to absorb the new regulatory regime.

CIC especially welcomes the specific focus on improving competence across all sectors engaged in the design, construction, maintenance, management and regulation of residential buildings. This carries forward the work of the Competence Steering Group that CIC has hosted over the past four years. CIC will continue to work closely with colleagues in the construction, built environment, fire safety and building owner/manager sectors to continue our engagement with the interim Building Safety Regulator and the Interim Industry Competence Committee.

Whilst welcoming the Act, which has taken two years since the publication of a draft bill in 2020, CIC has a number of reservations about the extensive changes that have been made during the passage of the bill. In particular, the holistic process recommended by Dame Judith Hackitt has been cherry-picked*. (Note 3) In some regards, her recommendations have been expanded upon (for example, in relation to scope, which we welcome) and in others they have been watered down and her rounded approach to achieving building safety has been impacted.

The last-minute change of heart about the statutory requirement to appoint a Building Safety Manager is a prime example of this break from the Hackitt recommendations. The role has been removed but the functions to ensure the building safety of residents remain and the idea that the cost of providing building safety management of occupied buildings, in scope to the Act, will not fall on the residents is unlikely to be the case, irrespective of whether there is a duty to appoint a Building Safety Manager.

CIC also remains concerned about the impact of extended liability under the Act, including for any works to dwellings (whether higher risk or not), and under the s38 of the Building Act. It is particularly concerned about extending the period of liability under the Defective Premises Act from six to thirty years and retains the belief that such a period of retrospective strict liability is unworkable for practical and contractual reasons. This amendment is likely to further exacerbate an already uncertain market for professional indemnity insurance (PII).

The PII market for construction-related activity in general and any work on high-rise residential buildings, in particular, is already far too weak to meet demand and there is adequate data to show that businesses are leaving the marketplace as a result. This is a major problem that requires urgent government intervention to enable businesses to continue to be able to carry out work on the design, construction and management of high-rise residential buildings and more widely, on fire risk and building safety work. Taken together with the rising cost of building work, particularly in relation to construction product availability and inflation, this will have a constraining impact on the industry’s ability to meet housing demand, especially affordable housing. This is a matter that the Treasury will need to consider very carefully.