1 Because true encapsulator agents travel on and over the water mo
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Posted: Dec 6, 2016
What would you think if I told you that, since 1997, there has been proven chemical technology within the international fire service that provides for exceptional and timely fire extinguishment on virtually all types of fires?
Would you also think me crazy if I told you that this same technology extinguishes fire in three ways? It rapidly reduces or removes the heat (remove the heat, remove the fire, right?); it encapsulates fuels, rendering them nonflammable; and it interrupts the free radical chain reaction, thereby dramatically and quickly reducing cancer-causing smoke and soot toxins. Did I mention that it also can drastically reduce the time that interior firefighters are exposed to the physical stressors of heat?
I can personally attest to this technology, known as encapsulator technology, as I have been using it since the late 1990s. Why, you ask, if this technology is internationally proven and obviously tested, do we not have it here in the United States? Answer: We have had it here in the United States-where I have purchased and used it. Unfortunately and simply stated, encapsulator agents fell through the cracks with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It’s not a foam, and it’s not what we know as traditional wetting agent; it’s closest place for a home is NFPA 18A, Standard on Water Additives for Fire Control and Vapor Mitigation. Let’s take a look at some of today’s challenging fire situations where encapsulator agents really shine.
Electrical Fires
Transformer, lithium-ion battery, and solar panel fires are occurring more and more frequently. In the United States today, the average age of an electrical transformer is 40 years old. As these transformers fail, statistics show that one in five of these failures results in fire. Lithium-ion batteries are a relatively new technology that presents new firefighting challenges in everything from cell phone batteries exploding to kids’ hoverboards bursting into flames to electric vehicles and passenger airplanes with lithium-ion battery fires that resemble small erupting volcanoes. With the quest for energy self sufficiency and prices for systems having dropped some 60 percent since 2011, solar panels are more practical and attractive than ever.
These energy mediums present fire challenges for industry as well as firefighters. When transformers, lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels catch fire, the traditional response is to use water. We are finding that water is mostly ineffective because it doesn’t penetrate and remove the heat generated by these fires. In the case of transformers, water can’t extinguish the extremely hot mineral oils within the transformer. This is to say nothing of the electrical shock hazard that exists with spraying water on an energized transformer. The next choice of firefighting agents in our existing arsenals would be foam, but foam is not recommended for three-dimensional fires, and foam blankets, when applied properly, retain heat. Additionally, foam is highly conductive, which places firefighters at great risk. Many of us also have powdered chemicals at our disposal, but powders do not remove heat and cannot penetrate, thereby resulting in reignition.
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1 Because true encapsulator agents travel on and over the water mo
Read more
- 213
- Article rating: No rating
Posted: Dec 6, 2016
What would you think if I told you that, since 1997, there has been proven chemical technology within the international fire service that provides for exceptional and timely fire extinguishment on virtually all types of fires?
Would you also think me crazy if I told you that this same technology extinguishes fire in three ways? It rapidly reduces or removes the heat (remove the heat, remove the fire, right?); it encapsulates fuels, rendering them nonflammable; and it interrupts the free radical chain reaction, thereby dramatically and quickly reducing cancer-causing smoke and soot toxins. Did I mention that it also can drastically reduce the time that interior firefighters are exposed to the physical stressors of heat?
I can personally attest to this technology, known as encapsulator technology, as I have been using it since the late 1990s. Why, you ask, if this technology is internationally proven and obviously tested, do we not have it here in the United States? Answer: We have had it here in the United States-where I have purchased and used it. Unfortunately and simply stated, encapsulator agents fell through the cracks with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It’s not a foam, and it’s not what we know as traditional wetting agent; it’s closest place for a home is NFPA 18A, Standard on Water Additives for Fire Control and Vapor Mitigation. Let’s take a look at some of today’s challenging fire situations where encapsulator agents really shine.
Electrical Fires
Transformer, lithium-ion battery, and solar panel fires are occurring more and more frequently. In the United States today, the average age of an electrical transformer is 40 years old. As these transformers fail, statistics show that one in five of these failures results in fire. Lithium-ion batteries are a relatively new technology that presents new firefighting challenges in everything from cell phone batteries exploding to kids’ hoverboards bursting into flames to electric vehicles and passenger airplanes with lithium-ion battery fires that resemble small erupting volcanoes. With the quest for energy self sufficiency and prices for systems having dropped some 60 percent since 2011, solar panels are more practical and attractive than ever.
These energy mediums present fire challenges for industry as well as firefighters. When transformers, lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels catch fire, the traditional response is to use water. We are finding that water is mostly ineffective because it doesn’t penetrate and remove the heat generated by these fires. In the case of transformers, water can’t extinguish the extremely hot mineral oils within the transformer. This is to say nothing of the electrical shock hazard that exists with spraying water on an energized transformer. The next choice of firefighting agents in our existing arsenals would be foam, but foam is not recommended for three-dimensional fires, and foam blankets, when applied properly, retain heat. Additionally, foam is highly conductive, which places firefighters at great risk. Many of us also have powdered chemicals at our disposal, but powders do not remove heat and cannot penetrate, thereby resulting in reignition.
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1 Because true encapsulator agents travel on and over the water mo
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Posted: Dec 6, 2016
By Alan M. Petrillo
A number of fire equipment makers use several types of assistance in testing a prototype product before they produce thousands of copies of the unit.
Typical groups might include advisory panels that have fire department, government agency, business, and industrial facility representatives on them. Other groups consist of focus groups, and beta testers put a product through its paces to identify any modifications that should be made before the manufacturer swings into full production of the item.
Dealer Involvement
Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer for Task Force Tips (TFT), says TFT has used both product development and dealer advisory councils for 25 years to get feedback on its products before they go into full production. “Any company registered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) will have a quality system in place that’s driven by the ISO standard,” Carringer points out. “And, part of that system is the ability to have a formalized method and manner of collecting customer feedback.”
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| 1 Task Force Tips used a variety of customer feedback methods in developing its PRO/pak Multi-Expansion Portable Foam Unit, which has a 2½-gallon reservoir with a built-in eductor that can be quickly set to the ratio of foam or wetting agents used. |
Carringer says that TFT’s approach to customer feedback is twofold: a worldwide dealer advisory council that meets for a week annually to advise TFT on “how we’re doing, our shipping history, financials, information about the marketplace and competition, and other things that keep them awake at night, which is our business advisory council,” he says. “We also run smaller regional group settings for product development that typically include regional managers and engineering people to collect feedback from customers of a specific product.”
“Sometimes we’ll test market with a few dealers for six months, get feedback, and modify the product accordingly,” Carringer observes. “There’s a lot of trial and error in product development. Some products never see the market, while others take the feedback and use it to develop a better product.”
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| 2 The Blitzfire High Elevation Oscillating Monitor made by Task Force Tips is a product resulting from feedback by product development and advisory councils and beta testing by career and volunteer fire departments. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Task Force Tips.) |
Training Agencies
Todd Herring, director of marketing for Fire-Dex, says his company uses a variety of advisory panels and beta testers. “We worked very closely with Safety and Survival Training, in New Jersey, in developing our in-pants harness,” Herring says. “We developed the prototype and put it in their hands to use over a period of time and took their ideas and incorporated them into the next version for more testing and fee
Read more
- 261
- Article rating: No rating
Posted: Dec 6, 2016
By Alan M. Petrillo
A number of fire equipment makers use several types of assistance in testing a prototype product before they produce thousands of copies of the unit.
Typical groups might include advisory panels that have fire department, government agency, business, and industrial facility representatives on them. Other groups consist of focus groups, and beta testers put a product through its paces to identify any modifications that should be made before the manufacturer swings into full production of the item.
Dealer Involvement
Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer for Task Force Tips (TFT), says TFT has used both product development and dealer advisory councils for 25 years to get feedback on its products before they go into full production. “Any company registered with the Insurance Services Office (ISO) will have a quality system in place that’s driven by the ISO standard,” Carringer points out. “And, part of that system is the ability to have a formalized method and manner of collecting customer feedback.”
|
| 1 Task Force Tips used a variety of customer feedback methods in developing its PRO/pak Multi-Expansion Portable Foam Unit, which has a 2½-gallon reservoir with a built-in eductor that can be quickly set to the ratio of foam or wetting agents used. |
Carringer says that TFT’s approach to customer feedback is twofold: a worldwide dealer advisory council that meets for a week annually to advise TFT on “how we’re doing, our shipping history, financials, information about the marketplace and competition, and other things that keep them awake at night, which is our business advisory council,” he says. “We also run smaller regional group settings for product development that typically include regional managers and engineering people to collect feedback from customers of a specific product.”
“Sometimes we’ll test market with a few dealers for six months, get feedback, and modify the product accordingly,” Carringer observes. “There’s a lot of trial and error in product development. Some products never see the market, while others take the feedback and use it to develop a better product.”
|
| 2 The Blitzfire High Elevation Oscillating Monitor made by Task Force Tips is a product resulting from feedback by product development and advisory councils and beta testing by career and volunteer fire departments. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Task Force Tips.) |
Training Agencies
Todd Herring, director of marketing for Fire-Dex, says his company uses a variety of advisory panels and beta testers. “We worked very closely with Safety and Survival Training, in New Jersey, in developing our in-pants harness,” Herring says. “We developed the prototype and put it in their hands to use over a period of time and took their ideas and incorporated them into the next version for more testing and fee
Read more
- 257
- Article rating: No rating
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