overview presentation 2 09 (2)
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en-Gauge electric monitored fire extinguisher systemsTRANSCRIPT
Electronically Monitored
Fire Extinguisher System
Technology OverviewFebruary 2009
The Fact is, Fire Kills…
• In 2006– Fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.
• 3,245 civilians casualties• 16,400 civilian injuries• 106 firefighters killed while on duty.
– Property loss due to fires was estimated at $11.3 billion.– Over 90% of all fires are extinguished and never reported.
• Because fire extinguishers are proven and reliable, National, State and Local fire codes require fire extinguishers in commercial structures. However…Fire extinguishers are only effective if they are accessible and working.
Purpose of Presentation
• To introduce the technology of the system to electronically monitor portable fire extinguishers
• To highlight the technology’s value points
• To demonstrate how the technology addresses a multitude of issues facing facilities
Code Compliance
Improve inventory management
Liability and business interruption
Vandalism & tampering
Operational cost savings
The Need
• Per code, every fire extinguisher must be inspected and documented on a 30 day basis.
• Business interruptions due to fires is can be devastating and the bottom line and Owners are liable if fire extinguishers have not been inspected & documented. (Station Nightclub / Seton Hall)
• Tampering & vandalism is no longer just a costly nuisance it’s become a Homeland Security concern.
• Real time data in facilities management is no longer a “nice to have”, but a “must have”.
• Every aspect of a building’s fire & security program is electronically monitored, except the only component that requires human interaction, the fire extinguisher.
• Government
• Airports
• High Tech
• Utilities
• Corporate Office Facilities
• Areas of Public Assembly
• Hospitals & Healthcare
• Hotels & Casinos
• Schools & Universities
• High Rises
• Commercial Centers
Who Should be considering en-Gauge?
Occupancies with large square footage or security & liability concerns
> Upgraded Pressure Gauge
> Obstruction Sensor
> Data Comm. Unit
Data System Alarm System
• Signals the moment extinguisher is removed
• Signals when an extinguisher falls out of pressure range
• Signals when access is continually blocked
• Will not allow an non-pressurized extinguisher back into service
• Tie alarm system and fire extinguishers together with leading wireless sensor backbone.
• Track through building alarm system, building management system or software
The Technology
• Installed hard wired or wirelessly.
• Wireless install creates a ubiquitous & stable communications
platform
The Technology
The Technology• Monitoring capabilities allows for graphic displays, information per
extinguisher, events log, multiple location monitoring & much more
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en-Gauge Success
AUSTIN, Texas May 2007 It was a fire extinguisher that alerted Austin-Bergstrom airport authorities to a car fire in a remote airport parking garage and enabled authorities to respond quickly to the emergency.
…. When the car owner removed the extinguisher and the extinguisher removal alarm sounded,
"our dispatcher was able to spin the camera over, see the fire and notify the fire department immediately," Slack explained.
en-Gauge Value Points
1. 24/7 surveillance
2. Immediate notification
3. Improved inventory control
4. Reduce the threat of business interruption
5. Reduce the threat of tampering and vandalism
6. Code compliant
7. Streamline costs
8. Wireless growth beyond extinguishers
9. Homeland Security recognized
10.Better fire protection
• 24/7 surveillance
– Fire extinguishers are the only part
of a building’s fire / security system
that is not currently electronically
monitored.
– en-Gauge technology ensures a fire
extinguisher is consistently
accounted for.
– 24/7 is just better than 30 days
• Immediate notification
– Know the moment that there’s an
issue.
– Not an alarm device, but could
serve as an early warning or alarm
confirmation tool.
en-Gauge Value Points
• Improved inventory control
– Physical 30-day inspections can be time consuming, costly and laborious.
Eliminate the process of going from extinguisher to extinguisher, picking them up,
inspecting them and keeping a written log of each extinguisher.
– The technology automates the extinguisher inventory process
• Business interruption costs
– The reality of business interruption caused by fire costs businesses and
organizations upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. (Monte Carlo
lost $100 million in 1 month)
– Austin comparison
– Use of fire extinguishers in non fire related incidents are becoming more and
more costly to the end user. (A large university spent over $300K to clean up
after a vandalism incident involving fire extinguishers that went undetected.)
en-Gauge Value Points
• Reduces the threat of tampering & vandalism
– Institutions are highly susceptible to extinguishers pranks and vandalism.
– Vandalized fire extinguishers pose a health and safety risk to those exposed to the aftermath.
– Institutions are liable in cases of malicious use of extinguishers even if monthly inspections are documented
– Clean up costs associated with extinguisher vandalism is skyrocketing due to the increased use of high end electronics.
en-Gauge Value Points
• Reduces the threat of tampering & vandalism
– Every year there are hundreds of “reported”incidents of fire extinguishers being tampered at public access facilities, resulting in millions of dollars in damages. (thousands literally go unreported)
– Vandalism rate involving fire extinguishers at University of Utah has dropped 98% since incorporating the technology.
– Don’t take our word for it, spend a few minutes on www.youtube.com
en-Gauge Value Points
“The idea that extinguishers are monitored to deter kids from
misusing them is key.”
Barbara Spalding, associate director of campus fire safety,
Wesleyan University Middletown CT
• The technology is fully recognized by the 2006 IFC, the 2007 editions of NFPA-10 & NFPA-72, as an alternative to the requirement for monthly physical inspections of fire extinguishers
• The technology has received tremendously strong support from uniformed code officials and local AHJ’s
• NFPA 72 20076.8.4.9 Fire Extinguisher Monitoring Devices and Systems. Signals from a fire extinguisher monitoring device or fire extinguisher monitoring system transmitted to a fire alarm system shall be permitted to be supervisory signals.
Code Compliant
en-Gauge Value Points
• Streamline costs
– en-Gauge enabled facilities are no longer
required to do the mandated monthly
physical inspections & documentations.
– Over the life span of the fire extinguisher,
an en-Gauge enabled facility can save
substantially on labor costs associated
with the inspection process.
– Factor in costs associated with clean up,
extinguisher replacement, business
interruption and liability; the potential
savings associated with en-Gauge is
enormous.
en-Gauge Value Points
“We will gain back one full-time position once we complete the conversion of all residential hall extinguishers over to electronic
monitoring.”
Mike Halligan, associate director of health and safety,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Wireless Growth Beyond Extinguishers
• Fire extinguishers offer the means of providing a stable ubiquitous platform through out the facility.
• Ability to monitor a multitude of safety, security and operational functions wirelessly.
• Opportunities include:₋ AEDs₋ Fire doors₋ Emergency first aid and hazmat kits₋ Manual pull stations₋ Radiation & gas detection₋ Temperature sensing
₋ Many others…
• Ability to connect to multiple panels or monitoring locations
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en-Gauge Value Points
Post 9/11 World• Terrorists are stealing ,converting and using fire
extinguishers as IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices)
• 60+ incidents in the past 3 years resulting in numerous killed & injured.
• Technology listed with the US Department of Homeland Security
• Technology addresses a clear loop hole in the Transportation Security Administration’s airport security program.
“There are several fire extinguishers somewhere in this courtyard. If one of those fire extinguishers was filled with sarin gas, …… discharged in the New York City subway, the death toll would exceed the death toll of 9/11 in a matter of 30 to 60 seconds.”
Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ)
en-Gauge Value Points
Bomber May Have Eyed Court16 May 2005
A Brooklyn man found dead in his home amid an arsenal of weapons —including a pipe bomb under construction — may have been planning to take the device to court today, for his sentence hearing on an earlier weapons charge, a law-enforcement source said yesterday.
His wife found his body in the bedroom of their Mill Basin home Friday. He apparently died of natural causes. She told police that she later went into his workroom — which he had kept off limits from her — and discovered a cache of guns and an AK-47 assault rifle. Then, on a table, she saw what looked to be a work in progress — a fire extinguisher packed with gunpowder, ball bearings and metal fragments.
Police said the bomb would have been powerful enough to wipe out a crowd of people.
Oxford teen had cache of bombs, blueprintsMarch 21, 2006
A 16-year-old Oxford boy is being held in juvenile detention while investigators try to
unravel the reasons why he allegedly amassed a cache of homemade bombs and the
blueprints of Oxford High School.
Joel Thomas faces several charges related to break-ins earlier this spring at an Oxford
school district maintenance building and the Oxford Public Library as well as arson at
another school maintenance building.
Police discovered as many as a dozen bombs and the blueprints in a search of Thomas’
Pontiac Street home.
Thomas is charged with arson of real property and breaking and entering in the May
14 fire of a garage at 107 Pontiac Street; breaking and entering in an April 21 incident
at the library; and a May 6 break-in at a second maintenance building, where police
say he stole walkie-talkies, keys, a scanner, batteries, a battery charger and a fire
extinguisher
Better Fire Protection
• Plain and simple 24/7 is better than once 30 days
• A detected extinguisher incident could be an alert of an incident at the earliest stages.
• Improves existing fire protection program.
en-Gauge Value Points
“Human error and lack of attention could mean loss of life. Electronically monitoring fire extinguishers takes a big piece of that risk away and
improves life safety – it’s a win-win situation for building owners and occupants.”
Greg Rogers, President Washington State Association of Fire Marshals
Testimonials
• We are definitely going to go campus-wide with this. There has been a huge decrease in vandalism and the comfort zone is priceless –knowing that extinguishers are available and going to work." Mike Halligan, associate director of health and safety, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• “Keeping our school children safe is a top priority for Goffstown, and we are grateful [for] an extra level of safety by ensuring that our extinguishers are fully functioning.” Fred Deppe, Assistant Principal, Mountain View Middle School, Goffstown, NH
• “By installing the en-Gauge electronically monitored fire extinguishers we are enhancing the life safety of our inmates, staff, volunteers, visitors and other prison-related personnel,” Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Boston, MA
• “The technology will be the standard for fire extinguishers in the next 10 years.” John Dean, President National Association of State Fire Marshals
• Monitor’s a facility’s fire extinguisher inventory 24/7 improving inventory control, saving operational costs
• Cutting edge technology is easy to install & retrofit / provides a stable wireless platform
• Reduces the threat of tampering and vandalism
• Immediate notification increases occupancy safety while reducing the threat of liability & business interruption
• Streamlines costs by electronically meeting NFPA & ICC code compliance obligations
Summary
When installing a new fire protection program, you wouldn’t install conventional smoke detectors – why
install stand alone fire extinguishers?
An en-Gauged Facility
Is A Safer, More Secure Facility