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www.ushalonbank.com   1.800.433.1751                                             May 2017 - Vol 3, Issue 4
                            
News
UTC Chief Talks Trump - A Wall Street Journal Exclusive
Fire Knocks Out Data Center
Erin Brockovich Slams AFFF/DOD on MSNBC
Honeywell Recalls Wireless Fire Alarm
Halon System Discharge Sends Subway Worker to Hospital
Boeing Sheds Jobs as Orders Slump
Euros Issue Warning on Cargo Hold Storage of Personal Electronic Devices
Most Popular Stories from April 2017
Companies in the News
People In The News 
Research and Development
Education
Law
Video of the Month
Heard on the Street
lawsuitHalon 1301 Cylinder Kills Health Care Worker - Unsecured, No Safety Diffuser - 25 Year Old Dies of Head Injuries. Service Company Settles
David Thomas Sells
5/10/17

By Cunningham Bounds, LLC
PR Newswire

MOBILE, Ala. -- Fyr-Fyter Sales & Service, Inc., a company based in Mobile, Alabama offering regional fire protection services to businesses and industry in the local area, has agreed to the payment of $6 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Cunningham Bounds, LLC on behalf of the parents of David Thomas Sells. Mr. Sells was 25 years old and employed as a facilities compliance assistant for Infirmary Health at the time of his death.

As a part of its fire suppression and fire equipment servicing business, Fyr-Fyter had a standing business relationship with Infirmary Health for decades prior to Mr. Sells' death, and regularly serviced and maintained Infirmary Health's fire protection and suppression systems. In early 2014, Infirmary Health contracted with Fyr-Fyter to decommission a large, high-pressure Halon fire suppression system located at an Infirmary Health satellite facility. During that decommissioning process, Fyr-Fyter disconnected a nearly 300-pound liquid Halon cylinder from the suppression system and moved it to a storage room on Infirmary Health's main campus, where Infirmary Health stored its spare fire extinguishers.

By design, Halon cylinders utilized in Halon fire suppression systems throughout the world will, upon manual or automatic activation, spontaneously release the full contents of the liquid Halon fire suppression agent within a ten second window-of-operation. The conversion of the liquid Halon to Halon gas at the instant of its release into the atmosphere results in a volumetric expansion of the liquid as it transforms to gas, and the simultaneous development of enormous thrust-force as the liquid-to-gas mixture seeks to escape from its containment cylinder. The Halon cylinder in question in this case was capable of generating in excess of one thousand pounds of thrust-force through its discharge port. 

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UTC Chief Talks Trump - A Wall Street Journal Exclusive
Photo: Ken Fallin
5/5/17

By Joseph Rago
The Wall Street Journal

United Technologies head Gregory Hayes on how Trump kept the Carrier plant open-and the high-paid factory jobs he's having trouble filling.

  New York

'It's an uncomfortable thing when the president-elect calls," says Greg Hayes. "That's a powerful, persuasive perch." The CEO of United Technologies is recounting the finale of his company's 2016 cameo as the Jeb Bush of corporate America.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Donald J. Trump would conscript a blue-chip firm as his political foil. United Technologies Corp. is a multinational manufacturing conglomerate, with subsidiaries like Pratt & Whitney and Otis Elevator that were founded 90 and even 160 years ago, that makes everything from escalators to jet engines. Last November UTC's Carrier unit, which makes heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, became a symbol of how Mr. Trump claimed trade and globalization had undermined American workers.

Click here to read the rest of this story.
 
Fire Knocks Out Data Center
5/12/17

By Sebastian Moss
DataenterDynamics

Customers of Australian superannuation provider UniSuper were left unable to access their accounts after a fire at a Port Melbourne data center.

No data was lost or compromised during the fire, which happened at an unspecified data center.

This is far from the first time a data center has caught on fire - earlier this year Australia's largest telecoms company, Telstra, suffered a major outage after a core exchange near Sydney caught fire.

Over in the US, Ford saw its data center go up in flames, while Canadian services were disrupted when a facility started smoking. But all the outages pale in comparison to what happened in Azerbaijan in 2015 - after a Delta Telecom facility caught fire, 90 percent of the country's Internet services went down.

Data centers can minimize the impact of fires with suppression systems. However, if they are not installed properly, they too can bring facilities offline, something the Romanian branch of ING discovered when the loud noise of a suppression system test damaged the data center's hard drives.

Read the full article here.
 
Erin Brockovich Slams AFFF/DOD on MSNBC
5/2/17

By Garret Ellison
Mlive

Wurtsmith Air Force Base veterans who say they've been poisoned by toxic chemicals in firefighting foam used extensively throughout the military were spotlighted on national news during a segment on MSNBC.

On Monday, May 1, Greta Van Susteren's 6 p.m. show "For The Record" featured Wurtsmith veteran James Michael Bussey of Pennsylvania in a six-minute look at the problem of toxic fluorocarbon pollution at military bases across the U.S., including Wurtsmith in Oscoda, Mich.

Van Susteren's spent most of the segment talking to Erin Brockovich, a famous environmental activist who is helping the disparate group of Wurtsmith veterans who began organizing online in 2016 after the state of Michigan issued a health advisory about the groundwater contamination on Oscoda.

 Read this article in full by clicking here.


(U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Heather Hayward/Released) Foam pours out of a dispenser generator inside Hangar 211 Dec. 21, 2012, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Every two years, Airmen are required to test the fire suppression systems in order to protect people and equipment.
Military Water Contaminated


4/21/17

By Justine McDaniel & Laura McCrystal - Staff Writers
Philly.com

Earlier this year, one South Jersey property owner got a notice: Chemicals from a nearby military base had seeped into the well that supplied drinking water to the site - contaminating it at a level 20 times higher than the federal government considers safe.

It's a familiar story to residents from New York to Colorado, Pennsylvania to Idaho. Contamination from former or current military installations, including in Horsham, Warrington, and Warminster, has ignited a nationwide review of water on or around bases that used a firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals. In the Philadelphia suburbs, about 70,000 residents have contended with tainted water running from their taps.

Finish reading this story here.

Honeywell Recalls Wireless Fire Alarm
5/13/17

By Hiram Reisner (Patch National Staff)
Across America Patch

The smoke detectors connected to the part can fail to activate properly when significant environmental contaminants are present.

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ -- Honeywell International has recalled its SWIFT wireless gateway sold with fire-alarm systems, because they occasionally fail to communicate with the system when a fire occurs, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The smoke detectors connected to the gateway can fail to activate properly when significant environmental contaminants are present, posing a risk that consumers will not be alerted to a fire, CPSC said.

Click here to read the rest of this article.
 
Halon System Discharge Sends Subway Worker to Hospital
The transit worker at the 116th St. station in Harlem on the Nos. 2 and 3 lines went to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital with difficulty breathing around 11 a.m., according to the FDNY. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
5/5/17

By Graham Rayman
Dan Rivoli
New York Daily News

An MTA station agent was taken to the hospital Friday when the booth's fire extinguisher accidentally went off, according to officials.

The transit worker at the 116th St. station in Harlem on the Nos. 2 and 3 lines went to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital with difficulty breathing around 11 a.m., according to the FDNY.

Read the entire article here.

Boeing Sheds Jobs as Orders Slump
4/17/17

By Paul Ausick, 24/7 Wall St.
Yahoo! Finance

The Boeing Co. will shed more employees as it faces new orders and production slow down for some of the company's current commercial jets. According to reports Monday morning, the company plans to fire "hundreds" more engineers this year with the cuts scheduled to begin on June 23.

The job cuts come in addition to 245 job losses already scheduled for May 19 and voluntary reductions that have chopped about 1,800 engineering and technical positions so far this year. According to a Boeing spokesman, the cuts will affect both union and non-union workers.

Finish reading this article here.

fssaThe FSSA Educational Foundation is Accepting Scholarship Applications
5/17/17

Fire Suppression Systems Association

Annually, the Fire Suppression Systems Association Educational Foundation awards scholarships to talented and worthy young people within the fire suppression industry.

Any student or college-bound individual affiliated with the fire suppression industry is eligible to apply. Candidates must have graduated from high school or its equivalent before July 1 of the year in which they will use the scholarship. Scholarships will only be awarded to students who will be participating in the fire protection programs at their universities. Students already enrolled in one of these colleges are also eligible to apply. Previous winners are eligible for a another award.

For all of the information, click here.
 
Euros Issue Warning on Cargo Hold Storage of Personal Electronic Devices
Kuwaiti social media activist Thamer al-Dakheel Bourashed puts his laptop inside his suitcase at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City before boarding a flight to the United States on March 23. (Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images)
4/5/17

By Karen Walker, ATW Daily News
China Aviation Daily

In a bulletin that seems to directly question the wisdom of the new U.S. and UK bans on large electronic devices in carry-on luggage, Europe's aviation safety authority today warns that such devices are "dangerous goods" in the cargo hold.

The European Aviation Safety Agency's (EASA) April 5 bulletin does not mention directly new US and UK security rules introduced in March, banning passengers from carrying onboard electronic items larger than smartphones because of fears they may contain explosives. But the EASA directive is clearly meant to raise awareness of what it sees as a heightened fire risk the rules bring to airliners.

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ametekAmetek Wins Contract for Aviation Fire Suppression System
4/12/17

By AMETEK Aerospace & Defense
Aviation Pros

BALDWIN PARK, CA -- Ameron MASS Systems, a unit of AMETEK Aerospace & Defense and a pioneer in the development of high-performance aerospace and defense components, has been selected by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, to provide the engine bay fire suppressant system for the new Cessna Citation Longitude super-midsize business jet.

MASS Systems, the OEM division of AMETEK Ameron, specializes in high-rate discharge fire extinguishing systems for military and commercial aircraft. The engine bay fire suppressant system developed for the Citation Longitude features uniquely operating fire bottles manufactured by Ameron at its Baldwin Park facility.

Click here to read the entire story.

novec3M Touts Novec 1230 to Canadian PM
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes a look at fluid designed to stop fires. (Liny Lamberink/AM980)
4/5/17

By Liny Lamberink, Reporter, AM980 News    
Global News

Scientists had the chance to show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interactive science demonstrations at 3M Canada in London.

Trudeau made a stop at the global technology company's Oxford Street location, where he also had a private meeting with executives.

"The world is changing, workplaces are changing, we can make sure that we're giving Canadians the tools to succeed," Trudeau told the company's leaders, before media were ushered out of the room.

Read the rest of the story by clicking here.
 

academyAcademy Fire (NY) Acquired by Audax
4/19/17

Business Wire

BOSTON -- Audax Private Equity announced that it has partnered with management to acquire Impact Facility Services, LLC d/b/a Academy Fire Life Safety. Audax acquired Academy from Caltius Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, CA. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Academy, headquartered in Maspeth, NY and Long Beach, CA, is a leading provider of fire and life safety services to national, regional, and local customers across retail, hospitality, healthcare, industrial, and other end markets. Academy offers inspection, service, customized work orders, and installation for fire alarms, sprinklers, fire extinguishers, and other fire suppression systems. For more information, visit www.academyfire.com and www.impactfiresvcs.com.

Click here to read more about this.
 
huroniaHuronia Acquires Peerless (Canada)
Rob Thorburn Jr., President & CEO at Huronia Alarm & Fire Security Inc. and Doug Spiller, President of Peerless Security & Muskoka Fire Protection Services Limited.
3/31/17

Whiting & Holmes Limited

Huronia has acquired Peerless Security & Muskoka Fire Protection Services Limitedin Utterson, Ontario. Peerless Security & Muskoka Fire Protection Services Limitedis the leading security, monitoring, fire installation, and service provider in the Muskoka, Parry Sound and Haliburton regions.

"As part of our Strategic Plan for continued growth, we fostered a relationship with Peerless Security & Muskoka Fire Protection Services Limited to solidify our presence in the Muskoka, Parry Sound and Haliburton markets. This acquisition will propel the growth of our product and service offerings in this region," said Rob Thorburn Jr., President & CEO of Huronia Alarm & Fire Security Inc.

Click here to see the full article.
 
cintasCintas Expands Fire Protection Division in Ft. Meyers, Florida
Cintas location in Fort Myers, FL (Photo: Business Wire)
5/10/17

Business Wire

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Cintas Corporation announced that its Fire Protection location in Fort Myers recently outgrew their facility and have since moved to a larger facility, which supports their growing team. In the past four years, the location has seen a customer growth rate of 25% each year.

This location, of over 100 employee-partners, services national accounts through a dedicated team of Account Specialists, Customer Service, and Management. The facility oversees the field based team who perform fire extinguisher inspection, fire alarm monitoring, testing, inspection and repair of sprinkler and fire alarm systems. Due to the continuous customer expansion, the Cintas Fire Protection Fort Myers location is looking to grow its team even further. Prime candidates are determined professionals with a proven record of success to match the Cintas spirit.

Read the fully story here.
 
statxStat-X Hires Former Buckeye for NW Sales Manager Slot (US)
5/9/17

Utility Products

Fireaway Inc. announces the addition of Mr. William (Bill) Taylor to its sales team as regional vice president of sales NW. Bill will be responsible for all sales and support activities needed to grow Stat-X presence and market share. The newly established northwest sales region includes the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, the northern part California, Alaska, and Hawaii as well as British Columbia in Canada.

A little bit about Bill:  Bill brings 30 plus years of experience, knowledge and respect amongst his peers in the fire suppression industry. Most recently, he held the position of northwest regional sales manager for Buckeye Fire Equipment. He started his career in the service business, owning A-1 Fire and Safety fire service and installation company. He also worked for E2 Systems as a DOD contract designer and installer and managed Pioneer Fire and Security. His vast knowledge of the fire protection industry, products, and technologies will be a great asset to Fireaway and our distribution partners.

Read the rest of this story here.
 
advancedAdvanced Fire Systems (Asia) Hires Business Development Manager
4/5/17

MDM Publishing Ltd
Asia Pacific Fire

Global fire systems leader Advanced has appointed a new business development manager for South East Asia.

Ian Thompson, Sales Director for Advanced, said: "Our business in SE Asia has been growing for some time and, following a new regional growth strategy, we're delighted to appoint Tin. He has a unique set of skills that emphasise both the technical and service advantages Advanced offers the market." Vietnam-based Le Thanh Tin joins the company after many years working in technical sales for a major competitor. Tin is charged with further developing Advanced's business in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and Hong Kong.

Speaking about his new challenge, Tin said: "The ASEAN region presents great opportunities for Advanced as it comprises well-established, high-growth countries as well as rapidly developing nations. The region also allows the use of both UL and EN systems, offering huge benefits to local customers when they switch to Advanced, as many other suppliers offer products compliant with only one of the standards."

Click here to finish reading this article.
 
fire_scienceFire Science and Combustion
(Photo by Thomas Angus)
4/28/17

By Andrew Czyzewski
Imperial College London

Ahead of his appearance at Imperial Festival, we speak with Dr Guillermo Rein, Imperial's resident fire expert.

"There is an ingrained human fascination with flames, which is almost certainly etched in our genetic code and reinforced by thousands of years living in caves and being dependent on fire," Dr Guillermo Rein muses when we meet in Imperial's combustion lab - also called the Hazelab. "As Asimov said 'fire is the greatest single discovery in human history', indeed, the first industrial revolution was actually sparked by our ability to handle and tame flames."

Guillermo is a Reader in Thermal Energy (soon to be Professor of Fire Science) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and his research is focused on heat transfer, combustion and fire. The chief purpose of his work is to reduce the worldwide burden of accidental fires and protect people, their property, and the environment. Yet, he points out that this modern field of study was actually born from much more malign origins.

Click here to continue reading this article.
 
utcUTC Posts Strong First Quarter Results
4/26/17

By Stephen Singer, Contact Reporter
Hartford Courant

 

United Technologies Corp. posted a strong first-quarter rise in profit, beating Wall Street expectations as its chief executive officer said he's confident economic growth is picking up in the U.S. and overseas.

The Farmington conglomerate posted a profit of $1.39 billion for the January-to-March period.

Per-share net income of $1.73 on revenue of $13.82 billion for the three months matched expectations of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue was up 3 percent from the first quarter of 2016.

Read the rest of this story here.

dustThe Explosive Danger of Dust Particles
5/9/17

By Kyle Penner
Multibriefs

Combustible dust explosions are a risk in many areas of a facility.

Facilities can create dust particles that can become airborne and dispersed throughout the plant. It's when these particles are in a combustible environment that they represent a significant risk for an industrial accident. The serious hazards associated with handling fine dusts and powdered materials may be overlooked by many plant personnel because they are not fully understood.

The presence of dust in a factory is now at the top of the list of items to inspect during an audit. Facilities must now implement a strategic plan for managing combustible dust at their locations and be proactive in mitigating these dust issues.

Read the entire article here.

courtBuilding Burns, Fire Suppression System Installer Sued, Court Rules in Favor of Installer
4/27/17

By Gillian M. Dennis and Andrew Wilkinson
The National Law Review

Every now and again, the English courts hand down a judgment which seems to fly in the face of established law. The recent UK High Court decision in Goodlife Foods Limited v Hall Fire Protection is one such judgment.

Hall installed a fire suppression system in Goodlife's premises.  A fire subsequently broke out causing property damage and business interruption losses to Goodlife in excess of £6 million.  Goodlife claimed that the cause of the fire was the failure of the fire suppression system and sued Hall.  Goodlife's claim for breach of contract was statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980 so Goodlife brought proceedings instead for negligence.  Hall sought to rely on clause 11 of its standard terms and conditions which purported to exclude its liability in negligence.

Read the entire article here.
 
Most Popular Stories from April 2017

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