2012 newsletter vol 3. aug - calsafe

A

2012-3

CALSAFE

NEWS & NOTES

CALSAFE 2012

ANNUAL MEETING

Also In This Issue:

Fraud Warning ….….…..pg 4

Bruce Carter ……………pg 14

New DOT Label …....... pg 10

OSFM Update………….pg 2

Presidents Message ………pg 2

Word Search ……………pg 3

California Association of LifeSafety and Fire Equipment

“Continuous effort - not strength or

intelligence – is the key to

unlocking our potential.”

Winston Churchill

You do not want to miss this one!!!!!!! See page 6 for more details

October 5th& 6th

Courtyard by Marriott Liberty Station San Diego

CALSAFE NEWS & NOTES

It is August and I can no longer count the number of over 100 de-gree days we have had.

It is not only the days that are heating up but the plans for the 2012 Annual Meeting are also heating up. While many of you are trying to escape the heat I hope that all of you are making plans to attend the Annual Meet-ing to be held in beautiful San Die-go in October. Look at the adver-tisement and agenda on pages 6 and 7 of this newsletter for more information. This year’s committee has done an excellent job in put-ting together a great program. Do not miss this opportunity to meet

and network with those in your industry, hear valuable infor-mation and receive great educa-tion. You will also come face to face with representatives from the major manufactures of the products you sell, all in a resort atmosphere. If you have never been to one of our annual meet-ings, come experience what we have been telling you about eve-ry year. If you have been to one, then you already know what a great experience it is, why miss out? We have some special things planned for the Friday night vendor reception so be sure not to pass that event up. You will notice that we have again brought back the hole in one prize for the golf tourna-ment. 20 grand for hitting a lit-tle white ball into a hole in the grass “ain’t” too shabby.

President’s Message This year the door prizes donated by our vendors are going to be giv-en away throughout the entire two day event so be sure you attend all of the sessions. These prizes are great and we appreciate our vendors for their support in donating them.

The office of the State Fire Marshal will be well represented this year. As you will see from the agenda on page 7 we will be once again hon-ored to have Chief Hoover speak to us as well as a very informative ses-sion by Deputy State Fire Marshal Tony Guevara.

Don’t miss out on the experience and don’t wait too long to sign up. Take advantage of the early registra-tion discount and special room rates.

I will see you in San Diego!!!!!!

President’s Corner By Randy Dysart

There is nothing new to report from Sacramento at the me of this publica on.

As a reminder, if you or any of your C of R holders failed a retest earlier this year, you

will need to make that up prior to the 2013 renewal. Don’t wait un l the last minute.

The NFPA10 Title 19 regula on package is s ll pending.

The NFPA25 Title 19 package is s ll in prepara on.

OFFICEOFTHESTATEFIREMARSHAL

2012 3

W o r d S e a r c h

For a greater challenge see how many you can find with-out the key, the key appears on Page 11

CALSAFE

WORD SEARCH

Summer Fun


Here is another in a series of news stories and ar cles that are appearing around the state.

This one is from the Central Valley:

The Fire Department wishes to advise business owners of a serious issue that is going on throughout the state and including our county.

Fraudulent fire extinguisher technicians and inspectors are enticing businesses into signing documents that are used to bill the owners. These companies are claiming that they have serviced portable fire extinguishers, fire alarm systems and automatic fire protection systems correctly when in many cases they have not.

They are also posing as fire department inspectors, intimidating businesses and using hostile tactics to have quarterly and annual services rendered. The fire de-partment has no affiliation with these companies.

The fire department has the enforcement authority to regulate Fire Code re-quirements and which fire protection/ detection systems should be in a facility, and these service companies have no authority at all. You as a business owner have the right to turn them away and seek other avenues or legitimate service companies.

The Fire Department would like to give business owners the following advice to verify the license and status of a business technician: contact your local Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org or by phone to verify the reviews of a particu-lar business; contact your local California State License Board at www.cslb.ca.gov or 1(800)-321-CSL:S(2752) and verify a license, work comp, and bonds; go to the California State Fire Marshal website at www.ofsm.ca.gov or call (916)-445-8376. Click on license and training and then click on Certifi-cate of Registration or Fire Extinguisher Companies and owners may verify all fire extinguisher companies and technicians.

Also, don’t pay in cash and always get receipts.

As in many of the other stories and ar cles we have passed on this is filled with some true

and viable informa on but as in the others it does not go far enough in clarifying the issue. (Continued on page 5)

“Fire Department warns of fraudulent fire extinguisher technicians and inspections”

2012 3

So what is right and what is wrong with the informa on presented here?

First we acknowledge that there are fraudulent prac ces that are “GOING ON

THROUGHOUT THE STATE.”. We have shared in previous ar cles some of the

“MO’s” these people and companies have used. We know that o en mes they will

wear uniforms or clothes that make them look like official fire department personnel.

This gives the business owner or occupant the appearance of something official. It is

o en been the prac ce to simply perform an “inspec on” and then approach the own-

er or occupant with an invoice. Very o en in these situa ons the invoice may itemize

many different “inspec ons” that have taken place and in fact they may not be quali-

fied for, and many mes not actually performing any type of real service to the fire

equipment. This is fraud in every sense of the word and it is no wonder that people are

up in arms about it.

Having stated that, there is some confusion we believe a memo like this creates. We

will con nue to get the word out in hopes that these issues are be er dealt with in the

future.

What this memo does not do is remind the business owner that there are required

maintenance, inspec on and tes ng regula ons for ex nguishers and systems that le-

gi mate service companies can provide. It is refreshing to see the recommenda on to

seek “legi mate service companies” however I am not sure what is meant by seeking

“other avenues”.

There is not a problem with sugges ng that a business owner verify the legi macy of a

license or cer ficate or even to check out any complaints with the local BBB. We have

long advocated wearing or presen ng proper company iden fica on to avoid any mis-

concep ons.

The last statement is of course troubling. They may be trying to suggest that if a fee is

paid in cash it offers li le recourse or proof of fraud. Many of us look to collect cash as

the preferred payment method especially where a ll exists. It seems to us that the ad-

vice to always get a receipt would have been adequate.

Overall this is one of the less destruc ve ones we have seen.

If you come across these type of ar cles or bulle ns we would like to get a copy. The

best way to get it to us is to email a copy to [email protected] or fax to 559-314-

6241.

(Continued from page 4) Price at the pump


The annual meeting will be held at the

Courtyard by Marriott Liberty Station in beautiful San Diego.

This year the event will not only kick off with the traditional golf excursion on Friday, which will be at the Eastlake Country Club. This year the Golf event will include a western BBQ, prizes

along with the chance to win $ 20,000 in the hole in one event. This year at the Friday evening reception you will have chances to win door prizes enjoy an encounter with a professional magi-

cian and of course a chance to spend time with our vendors . This will give us a true magical kick off.

We will have a full program on Saturday that as always provides valuable informational, networking

opportunities, good food, more time with our vendors and more chances to win exciting door prizes including the always coveted CALSAFE grand prize.

Don’t miss this event, plan early and register early. Those who register by September 1st will receive a $ 20 discount.

Also

take advantage of the CALSAFE $135 room rate with the Courtyard.

Call and make your reservations early as these are only available on a first come first serve basis and the quantity is limited.

2012 CALSAFE Annual Meeting

Great Facility

Courtyard by Marriott

Golf at Eastlake

Country Club Fantastic Speakers and

Educational Sessions

Great Support by

Vendors

2012 3

Agenda

Friday October 5th

8:00‐3:00Golf

5:30‐7:00Kick‐OffReception‐Entertainment?

This year’s kick-off reception will be one you will not want to miss. Be there, or your door prize may disappear like “magic” !

(you will have to come Friday night to find out what all this talk of magic is about!)

Saturday October 6th

7:00–8:00Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00–8:30Welcome / Opening Remarks

8:30–10:00Keynote Speaker, Monica Zech – Safety Educator,

“StayAlert,StayAlive”

10:00–10:15Break

10:15–11:15 Dave Bacca – Authorized Testing

ThelatestupdatesonDOTregulationsthataffectus

11:15–12:15Vendor Room Open

12:15–1:15Lunch

1:15–2:00 Tonya Hoover, State Fire Marshal

2:00–3:00Tony Guevara, Deputy State Fire Marshal –

WhatHappensWhenaComplaintisReceivedandHowitisInvestigated

3:00–3:15Break

3:15–5:30CALSAFE Presentation and Panel Discussion

AllthelatestupdatesaroundtheStateandacrosstheNation.

Amust‐attendsegmenttobefullyinformed!

5:30–7:00Vendor Reception and Door Prizes


Counterfeit Fraud Identity Theft ...oh my

Fraud isn’t just associated with Fire Extinguisher Service Companies, it is all around

together with counterfeiting and theft.

Counterfeits: One of our members came across a news story out of Atlanta where

the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department handed out 18,000 free smoke de-

tectors to seniors in a disadvantaged section of town. A CBS investiga-

tion uncovered that the detectors were counterfeit. The individual who

sold them to the department was described in the article as a “career

criminal”. It seems that fake UL labels were attached to the back of the

unit giving it the appearance of being legitimate but were never in fact

UL approved and the article questioned if the unit would even operate

in the case of a fire.

UL issued a news item in June of this year that warns of Counterfeit

UL Marks on Fire Sprinklers. The Sprinkler heads that are marked as if

they were made by Tyco and carry a UL stamp. These heads were nei-

ther made by Tyco nor UL approved. The source was traced back to a

seller out of China.

In yet another memo FM Approvals stated that a falsified Certificate of

Compliance was issued on FM Approval's letterhead for a brand of Fire

Hose also coming out of China.

Be alert because it has been reported, although not verified, that fire

extinguishers are in the US bearing a fraudulent UL label.

That bargain price for fire extinguishers, smoke detectors or fire hose

may not be a bargain at all.

Fraud: Another one of our members reported a new twist on the old “too

good of an order” to be true department. This company has been

stung three times. The first was a company that called to have product

shipped out of state and paid for it with a verified credit card. What a

great opportunity. The “customer” placed three different orders, all

shipped and assumed paid for in advance. Two months later the credit

card company “took back the money” stating that the card holder

contested the charge as not valid. In researching the matter, it was de-

termined that the card was fraudulently used and the address in Flori-

2012 3

da was a vacant warehouse. They were gone and the money was

gone. This prompted a whole new set of procedures for handling

credit card orders that includes having the bank contact the actual

card holder to verify the card usage is legitimate.

In the latest episode material was ordered by a new customer. A

credit application was filled out and credit references were verified.

Even the bank was contacted to verify the bank information was le-

gitimate. When the customer was billed for the material that was

shipped they denied paying the bill. While the name the person who

placed the order was an employee, the location where the product

was shipped was not one of their locations and that individual stated

they never placed the order. This scammer went to great lengths to

make all of the information look accurate. Another new procedure

was put into place to call the company on the application to verify

the legitimacy of the process. To add salt to the wound the same peo-

ple then tried to extract money for the companies bank account

armed with the acct & ABA number and almost succeeded to the

tune of S20,000. If it had not been caught in a routine review of

wire transfers the money would have been gone and the bank claims

no liability.

Can’t trust anyone anymore, and you must go to greater lengths to

ensure you wont’ be stung.

Identify Theft: Another member just made us aware that his identity, including his

SS #, was used to attempt to open a new account undoubtedly to

steal from him. We understand that these thieves often hold personal

information for several years before using or selling their list to other

thieves. Could this be information obtained from the State Fire Mar-

shal’s error a few years ago where certificate holders SS numbers

were exposed on line????

No matter where ones lives in the land of Oz, lions tigers and bears are all around.

We can hold up and hide indoors all of our lives and miss great sun-

rises and sunsets or we can be aware of our surroundings proceed

cautiously and learn how to keep from getting harmed. We live in

the land of USA, where there are counterfeits, frauds and thieves.

We can choose not to do business with anyone and miss great op-

portunities or we can be aware of our surroundings and handle

business wisely taking precautions making sure we are protected.


New Requirement on Fire Extinguisher Labeling

NAFED has sent out a memo regarding a change in DOT label-ing requirements. They site that there is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will make revi-sions to the hazardous materials section of CFR49 173.309 re-garding fire extinguishers.

You may remember that when the Hazardous Material Labeling requirements initially came out, way back when, we were told that all fire extinguishers must be properly listed on a shipping pa-per when transported and the extinguisher itself required a UN1066 label which is for Ni-trogen. While the fire extinguish-er and its agent are not specifical-ly hazardous, the fact the cylinder is under pressure causes it to be classified as a hazardous material. Many of us immediately com-plied with both the extinguisher labeling as well as requiring ser-vice truck drivers to fill out ship-ping papers because we were in-formed of big fines associated with not complying.

We were also reminded in this memo that if we carried an aggre-gate weight of over 1,000 pounds of hazardous materials that vehi-cle would have to be placarded. By the way in California that also meant the driver had to have a

special Haz Mat endorsement and the placarded vehicle be properly licensed and main-tained. This 1000# weight ag-gregate limit for placarding in-cludes the weight of the ship-ping container. In the case of an extinguisher it includes the weight of the cylinder and agent not just the Nitrogen or CO2.

Fast forward to today. A lot has changed. Terms like limited quantity and material of trade began to be better defined and seem to “soften” some of the requirements. With this an-nouncement from NAFED we see yet more changes and some clarifications that we all need to pay attention to and comply with.

The following is a list of the important elements to note

………………………………..

Only use an UN1044 label:

Fire extinguishers can no longer be labeled with the UN1066 Nitrogen Label, they must be labeled with the UN1044 Fire Extinguisher Label.

……………………………….

Extinguishers in properly marked boxes (a six sided en-closure) can be considered

“Limited Quantity” which means their weight does not need to be included to determine if a placard is required at the 1000# weight limit.

……………………………………

Limited Quantity extinguishers must still be listed on the Shipping Paper when transported.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: When ex-tinguishers that are in boxes are transported, like in a service truck, that truck must carry a properly for-matted and filled out shipping pa-per. The quantity is to be entered on the shipping paper and it must be identified as UN1044 Limited Quantity 2.2. (note: if are not properly filling out shipping papers prior to transporting boxed extin-guishers you should start the prac-tice immediately). The boxes that house the extinguishers must have the proper UN1044 label.……………………………………

Loaner or training extinguishers can be transported as “Materials of Trade” without a box.

Materials of Trade items are not required to be listed on the shipping paper. These extinguishers still must have a proper UN1044 label at-tached to them and must be proper-ly secured in the vehicle. Be careful

(Continued on page 11)

2012 3

on what you consider to be Mate-rial of Trade extinguishers. Your definition may not be the same as DOT and they usually win.

……………………………….

All Fire Extinguishers not trans-ported in a box must be properly labeled.

These may be extinguishers transported as Materials of Trade, Customer owned fire extinguish-ers being brought in for service, new extinguishers removed from their box, trade ins etc. must all have the proper UN1044 label attached.

………………………………..

(Continued from page 10) Class K Hazardous? NAFED, as well as CALSAFE, recommend that when extin-guishers are brought in for any type of service that have the old UN 1066 (or any other number that isn’t 1044) label, remove and replace it or cover it over with the new UN1044 label.

NAFED has also announced that they have the UN1044 la-bel available for purchase. You can with Brooks Equipment and other suppliers which will no doubt have them also availa-ble shortly if they don’t have them available already.

In Review:

Review your Haz Mat program

Modify or create your shipping paper for the UN1044

Maintain a stock of labels

Train your drivers on the re-quirements to include always filling out and carrying proper shipping papers

Replace or add labels to all ex-tinguishers being transported

Know when you are exceeding the 1,000 # weight limit where placards are required

Word Search Key for puzzle on pg 3


2012 CALSAFE Membership Final

This list incorporates all of the changes and new members added since the last publication.


The North American Fire Sales presents an in-house training program designed exclusively for the fire equipment service industry. Even Cowards Can Cold Call! seminar includes both class-room training and in-the-field training for sales and service technicians. The program is fun, very motivational and it gets terrific results!

Recently, as part of the in-the-field portion of the training, I was out with service technician Terry knocking on some doors looking for some new account possibilities in his service territory. (And, with the economy being what it is these days, cold-calling to generate new service busi-ness is a darned good idea!) One of the prospective new accounts we stumbled onto was a good-sized machine tool company having what we estimated was upwards of sixty portable fire extinguishers. We found the plant manager open to considering Terry’s company’s service inviting us to take a walk around his plant to get a feel for the number, size and type of portable extinguishers he had. We were more than glad to survey the facility prior to providing pricing for the annual service.

After examining only a half dozen fire extinguishers it became crystal clear to Terry and I that the company our prospective buyer had been using was either totally incompetent, blatantly dis-honest, simply did not care …or all of the above! We found units badly rusted, extinguishers that were fifteen years past their required hydrostatic test date and a number of C02s manufac-tured by a company that had gone out of business in the 1960’s!

Every extinguisher we saw was tagged by our competitor just eleven months prior to our survey. It was obvious that these dangerous portables were not simply isolated examples of extinguish-ers that had been overlooked or ones that had been missed in the annual inspection. We saw very little evidence that our competitor was providing any legitimate service of value but was simply tagging (not even ragging!) the customer’s equipment and little else.

In a situation such as this, it is very tempting to go back to the decision maker, tell it like it is and let him know how blatantly horrendous the “service” (if one could even call it that) was that he was getting from the present provider. Let me tell you, Terry and I had seen enough and were just about ready to go back and do just that – let the competition have it! Before knocking on the plant manager’s door however, the words of my old boss came back to me.

In the early 1990’s I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of working alongside of the world’s number one motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar. I remember hearing Zig say on more than one occasion that as professional sales people we should

“ WHY, THOSE STUPID, DIRTY, LOW-DOWN, INCOMPETENT . . .”

An article by Bruce Carter

2012 3

“ . . .never make a prospective buyer feel badly about a previous purchase . . .” Zig went on to explain that when we “knock the competition” we are actually sending a message to our prospective buyer that is definitely not going to be received positively.

Think about it. If Terry and I had gone to the plant manager ranting, raving and blasting our competitor about how incompetent, dishonest, lazy, poorly trained and awful he was, we would actually be sending a very negative and almost accusatory message to the plant manager himself. We, in essence would be saying to the plant manager, “YOU MADE A VERY POOR AND FOOLISH BUSINESS DECISION BY HIRING AND USING THAT COMPA-NY!” That’s right! Who do you suppose likely hired the incompetent competitor . . . Probably the plant manager himself! Just how do you suppose he is going to feel about that? The pro-spective buyer will likely feel very embarrassed about the “poor business decision he made” by hiring those bums in the first place. Furthermore he may even tell himself, “Well, maybe those other guys got the best of me . . .but I’ll bet the next company I choose won’t – I’ll watch them like a hawk!”

In conclusion, it is imperative that we do not ignore quality or fire-code related situations when it comes to a prospective client’s fire protection. Deficiencies must be pointed out. It is equally important from a sales standpoint, however, that when bringing those “deficiencies” to the customer’s attention, we not become nasty and knock the competitor.

So, go ahead and point-out the concerns. You can rest assured that the prospective client will see that the real source of the problem is his present vendor. With a more diplomatic ap-proach the prospect can save face and you are sure to pick-up a nice new piece of business.

Bruce Carter is the president of North American Fire Sales a training organization specializing ex-clusively in the fire and life safety industry offering:

In-house sales and customer service training seminars

In-The-Field technician and sales rep training

Association and corporate Keynote presentations

Fire protection business consulting

www.nafiresales.com

California Association of LifeSafety and Fire Equipment

How to reach your local Board Member OFFICERS

PRESIDENT

Randy Dysart

Jorgensen Co.

Rancho Cordova, CA

(916) 852-4130

SECRETARY

Edie Wade

Brooks Equipment Company

Hampton, GA (626) 827-2872

VICE PRESIDENT (PAST PRESIDENT)/TREASURER

Darrell Hefley

Jorgensen Co.

Fresno, CA

(559) 268-6241

VICE PRESIDENT (PAST PRESIDENT)

Chris Hoiland

Orange County Fire Protection

Orange, CA

(714) 974-9025 VICE PRESIDENT (PAST PRESIDENT)

Mike Brand

Brandco

Bakersfield, CA

(661) 322-6001

GENERAL BOARD MEMBERS

NORTHERN DIRECTOR Kim Golding Arrow Fire Protection Co. Fremont, CA (510) 791-1113

CENTRAL DIRECTOR Chris Gilbert

FireMaster Burlingame, CA (530) 624-0145 SOUTHERN DIRECTOR

Allen Quirk Paraclete Fire Safety Brea, CA (714) 577-5779

DIRECTOR AT LARGE Michael Reeser Santa Rosa Fire Santa Rosa, CA (707) 546-0797

DIRECTOR AT LARGE Scott Marx Marx Bros. Fire Extinguisher Co.

Los Angeles, CA

(323) 267-6954

BOARD ADVISORS

Darrell Harguth

Neville Throckmorton

We’re on the Web!

http://www.CALSAFE.com

2012 newsletter vol 3. aug - calsafe

Documents