The New Year is a good time to remind your customers of the value of portable fire extinguishers. According to the NFPA, a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation every 24 seconds. The most recent data collected for 2017 shows there were more than 1.3 million fires in that year. Those fires resulted in 3400 deaths and $23 billion in fire loss1. Portable fire extinguishers play a critical role in saving lives and reducing fire losses. Here is information that you can share with your customers so they realize how important fire extinguishers are in the early stages of fire, prior to the fire department arriving.

During your next service call, visit with the property manager and engage in a discussion about fire safety. In addition to explaining that you are there to ensure each fire extinguisher is functional and up to code, offer to explain fire safety and the importance of the fire extinguishers that are strategically installed throughout their facility. Make sure they understand that the fire extinguishers are there as their first line of defense in the event of a fire emergency. That is because fire extinguishers are intended for use during the early stages of a fire and help maintain a fire-free escape path for people evacuating the building. Make sure your customer also knows that fire extinguisher use, most often, results in minimal damage to property. Alternatively, where fire extinguishers are not employed, fires will grow quickly while waiting for the fire department to arrive. Taking no action typically results in extensive damage and business disruption that can last days or even weeks. Here are some helpful hints to leave with your customers.

Fire extinguishers can be helpful for a small fire or almost any fire during the initial stages. When discussing fire safety with employees and other building occupants, they should consider the following:

• Alert others in the building of the fire
• Make sure someone is in the process of calling 911
• Fire extinguishers are intuitive to use, so building occupants should not hesitate to use them
• Fire extinguishers can be effectively used when a fire is small
• Make sure the room is not full of smoke when using a fire extinguisher
• Always make sure to have a clear escape path when using a fire extinguisher

If a fire is large, it is not safe to use a fire extinguisher, leave the building with everyone else. When calling 911, state the nature of the emergency, the address, and make sure to stay on the line to provide further information.

When operating a fire extinguisher, remember the acronym PASS:

Your customers have invested in this safety equipment and rely on you to keep it in working order. Spending a few moments of your time to explain fire safety will help them respond appropriately, with portable fire extinguishers, in the event of a fire emergency.

¹Fire Loss in the United States During 2017, NFPA Journal Magazine, September/October 2018 https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/NFPA-Journal/2018/September-October-2018/Features/2017-US-Fire-Loss-Report.

Mark Conroy is a fire protection engineer and a member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Portable Fire Extinguishers.

Emergency lighting is installed in almost every commercial, industrial, and governmental building in the country. Over the years, a lot of these lights have become or will become antiquated and will need replacing, like the Emergi Lite JSM18-2 (below), which has been in service for decades. Very popular in its day, it will eventually need to be replaced. This is usually done during a monthly or annual inspection, as required by your State’s Fire Code. Unfortunately, you may not be able to replace it with another PAR36-style unit, due to major changes in emergency lighting design.

Always at the forefront of technological change, the emergency lighting industry has recently introduced one of its most exciting changes—illumination via LEDs (light emitting diodes). This new technology means more efficient light, requiring less power. It also means physically smaller fixtures, compared to the old technology. The picture shown below is the new JSM18-2. Notice that the lamp heads look very different—they are smaller than PAR36 lamp heads. They are also more powerful, more efficient, and more reliable than PAR36 lamp heads.

That difference in size and appearance can present a problem too. Why? Let’s say you are performing a customer’s annual inspection. He has 25 of the JSM18-2’s on location. And at the end of the test, five of his units need replacing. BUT the customer wants the replacements to match the other 20 older units with PAR36 lamp heads, which are no longer available. What do you do?

As ALL manufacturers phase out older emergency lighting units, with the larger PAR36-style lamp heads, in favor of the smaller, more efficient LED lamp head versions, this scenario will continue to play out as your customers are faced with replacement over repair. The only way to overcome their objections is by educating your customers on the new version’s benefits (smaller footprint, greater illumination, and replacement-free LEDs). You can also explain that they are easy to install with straightforward inspection and testing procedures, which may save them some money on service. Hopefully, all of this will help make the transition to these newer models a lot easier for both you and your customers, helping to keep your customer’s facility safe and compliant—especially during a power outage.

Bob Mete is the Product Manager for Emergency Lighting & Batteries for Brooks Equipment and a Board Member of the New Jersey Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NJAFED).