Each year in September or October the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes the annual fire loss report in the US for the year prior. The 2021 report was published in September 2022 with a…
Read MoreWith the increase in large catastrophic, sprinklered warehouse fires in the last several years, one must wonder if any loss lessons have resulted in better practice. Since the 1982 K-Mart fire, several large sprinkler protected…
Read MoreIn the early morning of February 6th, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter near Nurdaği, Turkey was felt throughout central Turkey and northern Syria. Approximately 11 minutes later, a 6.7 magnitude quake hit…
Read MoreIn their November/December 2022 issue, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations affecting the fire sprinkler industry…
Read MoreOn Monday, October 24, 2022, a fire spread quickly through the yard of a commercial building in Monrovia, CA. By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had ignited approximately half of the yard…
Read MoreThis is a follow-up to our November 2020 article on the development of fluorine free firefighting foams, Comparison Testing of the New “Fluorine Free” Firefighting Foams. AFFF: Aqueous film forming foam For over half a…
Read MoreWindstorm Standards Outline: On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, FL as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of up to 150 mph. Along with the strong winds and…
Read MoreSevere windstorm studies have shown that storm-related damage can be prevented or minimized. The keys to this are windstorm preparation planning in advance of the storm, and organized action during and after the storm. Windstorm…
Read MoreWhat are spray dryers? Spray drying is a method of rapidly drying a liquid mixture or slurry into a dry powder using a hot gas. Spray dryers are often used in the food, pharmaceutical and…
Read MoreOn August 4, 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon accidentally exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring over 6,000 and causing miles worth of structural damage.…
Read MoreTire manufacturing is a complex process, but can be broken down into three main processes: tire preparation, tire production and tire building. Preparation includes fabric cord manufacturing, bead and belt steel cord manufacturing and Banbury…
Read MoreAs communities grow, there are only two ways to build; up or out. Often times high rise structures near the center of a large city are already built, and are cost- or ordinance-prohibitive. The option…
Read MoreIn a recent 10-yr. period, wildfires have impacted an average of 7.5 million acres of land each year throughout the United States.(1) Eight of the top ten costliest wildland fires in the US have occurred…
Read MoreAircraft hangars are primarily used for either aircraft assembly or maintenance. In this article, we will just focus on maintenance (or servicing) hangars. The hazards of maintenance hangars can be fairly obvious. Aircraft are assumed…
Read MoreThe 2022 edition of NFPA-13 “Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems” has undergone several changes from the 2019 edition. The following is a brief overview of some of these changes. Chapter 8 “System Types…
Read MoreNearly everyone has some experience in a casino. Whether you are a high roller playing your favorite table game, playing the penny slots, or just driving down Las Vegas Boulevard as a tourist, you have…
Read MoreWith the recent tragic event of the building collapse in Southern Florida how does the property insurance industry react? Collapse is in insured peril. The building was a 12-story plus penthouse concrete framed condominium tower…
Read MoreThe telecommunications industry evolved over the past 20 years from electromechanical to digital to server-based switching systems. Similarly, the telephone company’s central office equipment has significantly changed over the past 20 years. Years ago, there…
Read MoreThe amount of data exchanged occurring every minute is mind-boggling. Worldwide data centers are the engine which drives this data exchange. Cloud computing which we hear a lot about today is typically performed in large…
Read MoreImproperly protected sprinkler piping can move violently during an earthquake, resulting not only in extensive water damage to the interior of the building and equipment, but also result in a catastrophic fire due to the…
Read MoreThe use of rechargeable Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries continues to grow in electronic products, automobiles (EV) and energy storage systems (ESS). This is due to their high energy density and decreasing cost. A battery ESS can…
Read MoreThe textile industry can generally be divided into two manufacturing process; raw fiber to yarn production and yarn to finished garments production. Both types of textile manufacturing pose similar fire and property damage hazards. Raw…
Read MorePrinting Operations can be divided into four production processes: Letterpress Printing, Silk Screen Printing, Gravure Printing and Lithographic Printing. All types of printing production pose similar fire and property damage hazards, mainly separation and ventilation,…
Read MoreThe following is an update to our May 2019 technical web article “Protection and Approvals for Combustible Plastic Ductwork.” The removal of dust, smoke, and fumes is a critical part of many industrial and commercial…
Read MoreIn their November/December 2020 issue, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations affecting the fire sprinkler industry…
Read MoreIn their November/December 2020 issue, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations affecting the fire sprinkler industry…
Read MoreWhat Is A Dust Hazard Analysis? As defined in NFPA 652, Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust (2019 edition), a Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA) is a systematic review to both identify and evaluate the…
Read MoreMost people are aware that organic materials such as flour and sugar dust can cause large explosions. However, many types of metal dust are also explosive. Aluminum, bronze, magnesium, silicon and zinc can all have…
Read MoreEvery day we touch something made from paper. The box we got our internet order in, the paper you put in the printer, the carton your cereal is in and so many other items. Paper…
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