Industry News

Proshield Fire & Security is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors. Check back often to stay current on industry news from these two organizations.

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Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stove top!

Posted by on 7:49 pm in For kids and families, For the fire service, News, public education, Safety Tips | Comments Off on Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stove top!

Boston FireLast weekend I celebrated my birthday with my family at my favorite Italian restaurant in the North End of Boston – Ristorante Limoncello. While eating some wonderful bread with olive oil and parmesan cheese, I heard sirens and saw red lights flashing against the buildings on the narrow street. Two engines arrived and stopped right in front of the restaurant. Of course, I was interested in what was going on. I excused myself from the table and went outside to speak to a couple of the fire fighters. They told me it was in an apartment and probably something on the stovetop.

From the response of the fire fighters, it seemed like this was a routine occurrence. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of kitchen fires. Please keep an eye on what you fry. Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling or broiling food. Check out our cooking safety tips sheet. It has good information that just might keep you fire safe in the kitchen.

The fire department left the scene and my dinner celebration continued.

We hope you changed your smoke alarm batteries while you “sprang forward” this weekend

Posted by on 1:30 pm in Safety Tips | Comments Off on We hope you changed your smoke alarm batteries while you “sprang forward” this weekend

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To kick off Daylight Savings Time, clocks “sprang forward” at 2am Sunday morning. NFPA wants to remind everyone that this might also be a good time to change the batteries in all of your home's smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. 

To stay safe, replacing batteries in all smoke alarms should be done at least once a year, but changing them while changing all of your clocks serves as a great reminder. In addition, smoke alarms should be tested once a month and if an alarm “chirps”, warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.

For more smoke alarm safety tips, check out our downloadable tip sheet

Smoke Alarm Tip Sheet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sparky the Fire Dog’s birthday is this month and he’s having treats to celebrate

Posted by on 3:30 pm in Activities, For kids and families, For the fire service, Great ideas, public education, Sparky the Fire Dog | Comments Off on Sparky the Fire Dog’s birthday is this month and he’s having treats to celebrate

I have two dogs and they love any kind of treats.  As a matter of fact, they go bonkers for them.  Sparky the Fire Dog loves treats too and it's his birthday so we're celebrating all month long.  For Sparky’s party, we made some easy dog treats.  So why not throw a party for your dog? 

Check out Sparky.org for the cool-to-dos and check out Sparky the Fire Dog’s party kit that provides everything you need to create a special day for your little firefighter!

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NFPA 13D 2013 update: Sloped-ceiling installations

Posted by on 2:00 pm in Codes and standards | Comments Off on NFPA 13D 2013 update: Sloped-ceiling installations

13D13The current issue of the Sprinkler Age, an American Fire Sprinkler Association publication, contains an article by James Golinveaux of Tyco Fire Protection Products providing an update for sloped-ceiling installations included in the 2013 edition of NFPA 13D: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes.

Mr. Golinveaux says that the new simplified field installation for sloped-ceiling spaces is the result of eight years of study, testing, and cooperation. He tells us that this research was done to provide data on the “life safety” potential of residential sprinklers on sloped ceilings outside of the “listing”
protocol.

A Fire Protection Research Foundation study found that “residential sprinklers listed for applications with flat, smooth ceilings can be expected to perform adequately when installed on a sloped ceiling or sloped and beamed ceiling arrangements similar to those investigated as part of this study”; with certain restrictions and limitations related to design configurations.

According to Mr. Golinveaux “practically speaking” the 2013 edition of NFPA 13D results in the following benefits:

  • Sprinkler contractors will realize a reduction of labor costs from quicker installations;
  • Municipal authorities will be confident knowing that a prescriptive standard is being followed;
  • Homebuilders can be confident that the cost for a home’s fire protection system will come in on, or close to, budget; and
  • Homeowners will have an economical, effective and life-saving fire protection system in place that did not substantially increase the price of their home.

Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition announces two new stipends for fire departments

Posted by on 3:10 pm in education | Comments Off on Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition announces two new stipends for fire departments

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Through funding from a U.S. FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant, the nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) will offer two new stipend programs to U.S. fire departments looking to increase home fire sprinkler education within their communities.

HFSC will award 15 U.S. fire departments with $1,500 stipends to partner and complete an education program with their local technical/vocational schools. Working together, those students, who may be future members of the homebuilding industry, will learn about the benefits of home fire sprinkler systems.

The second stipend program provides $1,000 to 25 U.S. fire departments to pay for materials to build demonstration units and conduct live home fire sprinkler demonstrations within their communities. HFSC provides guidance for building the units and conducting a public education event through its free Fire and Sprinkler Burn Demonstration Kit.

Only U.S. fire departments that are members of HFSC’s free BUILT FOR LIFE Fire Department (BFLFD) Program can apply for the stipends. Visit HFSC and sign up to become a BFLFD

Apply for the $1,500 technical/vocational education program stipend by March 29.

Apply for the $1,000 side-by-side demo stipend by April 29.

Rolf Jensen Grant winner chosen

Posted by on 1:00 pm in For the fire service, Great ideas, News, public education | Comments Off on Rolf Jensen Grant winner chosen

Springfield Mass Patch

Springfield Fire Department, Springfield, Massachusetts, is the winner of the 2013 Rolf H.Jensen Memorial Public Education Grant. The $5,000 grant will support the department’s “Multi-Language Public Education Fire Safety Initiative”concentrating on Springfield’s growing population of Somali, Russian, Nepali,Vietnamese, and Latino immigrants. The initiative will also reach out to residents over the age of 65.

Springfield has experienced a sharp decline in industry, jobs, and population over the past few decades and has one of the highest rates of concentrated poverty in the United States. In 2010, 88 percent of building fires took place in residential properties, with unattended cooking or unsafe cooking practices accounting for 61 percent. English is spoken as a second language in 34 percent of households, compared with 21 percent statewide.

Fire safety programs will be conducted primarily at cultural and community centers. The program will be evaluated using a three-part approach: a before-and-after comparison of volume of emergency responses, instructor evaluations, and a10-question survey completed by residents.

Have NFPA public education materials saved a life in your community or family?

Posted by on 5:19 pm in For kids and families, For teachers, For the fire service, Great ideas, News, public education, Remembering When, Safety Tips, Sparky the Fire Dog | Comments Off on Have NFPA public education materials saved a life in your community or family?

HeroThe public education division is busy creating more materials for you to use in your community. Some of the resources you will find on nfpa.org include our educational programs. The Learn Not to Burn® Preschool Program, Learn Not to Burn® Grade 1 and Remembering When™: a fire and fall prevention program for older adults provide you with everything you need to implement a formal educational program. Our safety tips sheets have been so successful, we keep adding more. The community kits provide everything you need to do an outreach program including media materials, print ads, talking points and safety tips sheets. If you plan to reach people with disabilities, we have created resources for you to use. And, Sparky® the Fire Dog’s website is updated monthly with new fun things to do.

With all these great resources available, we hope you are using them. Has your use of the materials helped save a life in your community or family? Did a family practice their home fire drill and have to use it in an actual emergency situation? Did someone learn about fall prevention in a Remembering When presentation and have grab bars installed in their shower? Did someone install smoke alarms in their home because you provided them with our smoke alarm safety tips sheet? Did a game on Sparky’s website get your family to test their smoke alarms? We want to hear from you. Let us know how our materials made a difference. You can be a safety hero!

Getting homebuilders on board with fire sprinklers

Posted by on 2:35 pm in education | Comments Off on Getting homebuilders on board with fire sprinklers

NewhouseAn article in the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ (IAFC)OnScene magazine, written by Gary Keith, vice president of field operations and education at NFPA and president of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC), pinpoints the many ways that the HFSC reaches out to homebuilders with education about fire sprinklers.

The article underscores the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) opposition as the leader in the “powerful anti-sprinkler legislation charge” as evidenced by the fact that “the group's online document Value of NAHB Membership lists its work to defeat mandatory sprinkler protection as one of the membership benefits.”

Mr. Keith states that while other organizations have focused on advocacy HFSC has been “tackling the problem from another angle: education.” HFSC has reached out proactively to homebuilders and has exhibited NAHB's International Builders Show (IBS), “which is the best-attended conference for the homebuilding industry, drawing tens of thousands of professionals every year.”

As an example of HFSC’s educational outreach, the article explains that the organization “also offers an interactive, 3-D behind-the-walls educational online video, which shows how an NFPA 13D system is supplied and installed and how it operates in a house.”

Mr. Keith says that “the tide is turning as more homebuilders want to learn about home fire sprinklers and are starting to offer them regardless of their communities' codes.”

2011 latest estimates on major fire causes now available

Posted by on 4:51 pm in education | Comments Off on 2011 latest estimates on major fire causes now available

NFPA has published the latest statistics on major fire causes. The statistics are based on fires reported to local fire departments and include trend data that indicate the evolution of the problem.

Children playing chartNFPA’s latest estimates of:

The above fact sheets contain links to the complete statistical reports from which the data comes from.

New safety tip sheet: Outdoor electrical safety

Posted by on 2:49 pm in Safety Tips | Comments Off on New safety tip sheet: Outdoor electrical safety

Outdoor electricalWe've just published a brand new safety tip sheet on outdoor electrical safety!It's important to remember that lighting to improve the look and safety of our homes, electric tools to make our outdoor work easier, and power lines to our home, all need to be handled with care. Here are some examples of the safety tips:

Outside electrical work:

  • Have a qualified electrician do all electrical work.
  • To prevent an electrical shock, make sure all your outside electrical receptacles are GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) protected.

Equipment safety:

  • Use lighting and power tools that have the label of an independent test laboratory and made for outdoor use.
  • Keep electric tools away from children.
  • Check lighting and extension cords for damage before using. Replace any damaged cords right away. 

Power lines:

  • Have a professional tree cutting service trim branches that might fall on electric woring. 
  • Keep the ladder at least 10 feet away from power lines. 
  • Never touch anyone or anything in contact with a downed wire. Power lines may be live, stay a safe distance away. 

Download the full safety tip sheet with NFPA safety tips on outdoor electricity.