Reliable fire safety equipment is part of every smart business plan. Below are the minimum business recommendations from the National Fire Protection Association Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers (NFPA 10). Many cities and states require fire extinguishers with a minimum UL rating of 2-A:10-B:C in buildings. Check with your local fire authorities for the building code requirements in your area.

• Low Hazards – A 2-A: 10-B:C rated rechargeable unit. For offices, churches, assembly halls, classrooms and hotel guest areas. Class A-B-C
  
  
• Medium Hazards – A 3-A:40-B:C rated rechargeable unit. For light manufacturing facilities, dining areas, auto showrooms, parking garages and storage areas. Class A-B-C
  
  
• High Hazards – A 4-A:60-B:C rated rechargeable unit. For manufacturing facilities with processes involving flammable liquids, boat and vehicle services, and woodworking processes. Class A-B-C
  

What Size Fire Extinguisher Should you Purchase?

NFPA 10, 2013 Edition recommends the following:

E.3.5 The area that can be protected by one fire extinguisher with a given A rating is shown in Table E.3.5. These values are determined by multiplying the maximum floor area per unit of A, shown in Table 6.2.1.1, by the various A ratings until a value of 11,250 ft² (1045 m²) is exceeded.

Click Here to Visit TC LifeSafety to find the right Fire Extinguisher to suite your needs!

Fire Extinguisher Location/Placement

The NFPA 10 - Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers gives specific instruction on the proper location and placement.

Placement

• Fire extinguishers shall be conspicuously located where they are readily accessible and immediately available in the event of fire.

• Fire extinguishers shall be located along normal paths of travel, including exits from areas.

Installation Height

• Fire extinguishers having a gross weight not exceeding 40 lbs. shall be installed so that the top of the fire extinguisher is not more than 5 ft. above the floor.

• Fire extinguishers having a gross weight greater than 40 lbs. shall be installed so that the top of the fire extinguisher is not more than 3-1/2 ft. above the floor.

• In no case shall the clearance between the bottom of the fire extinguisher and the floor be less than 4 inches.

How to Use Fire Extinguisher

Stand 5 feet away from the fire and follow the four-step PASS procedure recommended by the National Fire Protection Association:

P - Pull the pin and hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you.

A - Aim low at the base of the fire.

S - Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly to discharge the extinguishing agent. (When the agent first hits the fire, the fire may briefly flare up. This should be expected.

S - Sweep the nozzle from side to side, moving carefully toward the fire. Keep the extinguisher aimed at the base of the fire.

Testing and Inspections have become big business.

Fire alarms are a highly regulated and closely watched part of our everyday lives. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), International Building Code (IBC) and countless other code writing bodies have always included the mandatory annual testing of fire alarm systems as a means of good and proper Life Safety living.

Who is permitted to test Fire Alarms? From a single family home to a downtown high-rise, the codes have the answers.

What is happening with the Gentex parts on your Website Dave? You’re not stocking them anymore?

I have gotten this question a couple of times now and we need to address it for all to understand. We have not changed our relationship with Gentex at all; in fact, they are an integral part of our success and are one of our elite "V1 Vendors".

They have decided to update their product line to conform to the current Fire Alarm Codes. There are parts of their product line that don’t follow today’s more advanced applications, nor do they comply with current codes. I am talking about the 7000 Series Single Station 120 and 220 VAC detectors and parts of the 9000 Series.

In a few past Blogs, we have discussed the application of Carbon Monoxide Detectors as well as the best practices in buying the detector you need.

We haven't spoken about what happens after the detector is in and the unthinkable happens, it goes off. Well, some say to stay inside and open all the windows while others say to evacuate the premise. I prefer the latter to the former, you can't become overcome in the great outdoors...

So now what? The Fire Department comes and may determine that the furnace was the cause of the CO and they find the Emergency Shut Off Switch all homes are supposed to have, open the windows and advise you to call your Heating Company. The Furnace Tech arrives and goes to work troubleshooting your system and making repairs.

Question #1: Can we protect the Fire Fighters and that lonely Furnace Tech from the deadly CO your heating system is spewing out?

Another toxic gas is Hydrogen Sulfide, it is that rotten egg smell you get from sewer, swamp and manure gas. It is mostly due to the breakdown of human waste that leaches into our homes from faulty septic systems or industrial activities such as Paper Mills and Tanneries. Hydrogen Sulfide is not odorless like Carbon Monoxide, but is very explosive and at high concentrations is absorbed thru the lungs very rapidly killing quickly. You don't need a detector for this gas, the stench will drive you from our house, but it is that poor plumber that responds to your call who needs to be warned as levels of this nasty gas reach lethal levels while he is trying to remedy your problem.

Question # 2: Is there such a method of protection for these intrepid individuals?

Last on our list is not so much a toxic gas, but one that is highly flammable. Oxygen! Hospitals, Assisted Living and homes with the ill or infirmed have bottled Oxygen or Oxygen makers on site. Tanks of Oxygen are seen where metal cutting is performed with Oxy-Acetylene torches are used in construction and metal fabrication. As concentrations of Oxygen rise the danger of a spark, cigarette or pilot setting off an explosion increases dramatically.

Question # 3: Is there a way to measure the levels of Oxygen to help protect the men and women exposed to this dangerous gas?

The answer to all three of these questions is YES.

Our friends at Aerionics, owners of Macurco Gas Detection, have just released three new Personal Protection Monitors. The MA-CM-1 for Carbon Monoxide, the MA-HS-1 for Hydrogen Sulfide and the MA-OX-1 for Oxygen.

These Battery operated devices last a span of 2 years with regular use. Never needs recharging and can be thrown away after their lifespan is completed. They are priced to be very competitive.

Now we can give the Fire, Police, EMS and Tradesmen instantaneous warning of increased levels of these three dangerous gases in the area they are working in and save the lives of our valued First Responders. Check out our selection of these Personal Protection Devices at http://www.tclifesafety.com/search.asp?q=portable+gas&search.x=0&search.y=0.

Who watches out for the consumer (you folks out there) when it comes to products both functioning as expected and designed to not be a source of injury or worse?

In the fire alarm world, we have strict regulations as to how products are designed, manufactured and eventually applied out in the real world. Most of the regulations as to how a piece of fire/life safety equipment is applied in the real word is covered by Codes and Standards written by any number of Engineering Agencies, the most popular of which are the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Industry Associations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

The ANSI Standards are used by another series of authorities called the NRTLs or Nationally Recognized Testing Labs. These have familiar names like Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Factory Mutual (FM) and ETL SEMKO (ETL). These Testing Labs use the ANSI and other Standards to monitor how a product is designed, built and tested by the manufacturer to assure that the products leaving the manufacturer's shipping dock are in compliance. This includes not only a properly functioning Fire Alarm that will warn you of the dangers of a fire in your home or office, but also that the product is safe and reasonably reliable and will not cause damage or injury to anyone or anything.

After the product is deemed safe and reliable, it is then subject to the Codes and Standards of the particular industry, in our case, the NFPA Codes as well as the various Country, State, County and Municipal Building Codes that may have been legislated into effect in the area you live in. Rules like, where and how many Smoke Detectors have to be installed in your home to make it "code compliant" are mandated by these Codes and are often voted in as the law of the land mostly at the State level, but occasionally at the municipal level as well. As you move from the private residential sector to the more complex nature of Commercial/Industrial applications, then more Codes issued by the various Agencies involved muddy up the waters and in the end make sure that a building and its occupants are safe no matter what is going on in the building. This may include factions from Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Fire and Elevator industries, who all work in harmony to that end.

To this point in a product's lifespan, the regulation is mostly out of your hands. NRTLs sign off on the design and the Engineers and the Fire Department will sign off on the product's installation and application.

Once the product is out there, installed and working, there is an agency that looks out for the unforeseen issues. After the NRTL Lists or Approves a product for public use, the Codes and Standards are applied, the product is installed based on those rules, is tested and approved by the local Fire Department then the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) becomes the one who looks out for failures in the field. Smoke detectors that do not detect smoke, horns that do not sound, control panels that develop glitches and do not perform their appointed processes are all reported to the CPSC and based on a number of variables like frequency of the defect and severity of the defect will work with the manufacturer and may insist on a product recall.

Product recalls should not always be looked at as an indictment of the manufacturer (unless they are a repeat offender) or those Engineers who wrote the original Standards, but it should be looked at as a part of the lifecycle all products go through, in fact, a product that is recalled and is fixed tells us that the process works.

If you are shopping for products, especially for LifeSafety Products, it is always advisable to look up the manufacturer on the CSPC site and then armed with this and the other research you have done, you can make a more informed decision on the products that you intend on purchasing for your LifeSafety applications. You may not agree with the laws or the methods in which you are "forced" to comply with these laws, but you can have some say into the quality of the products that you have to buy.

Take advantage of the government's watchdog commission and visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website often: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/ You'll be a more informed consumer.