Industrial Fire Journal, Fire and Rescue and Company Clothing supplement on PPE

The Catlettsburg Refinery in Kentucky recently received a precision engineered aerial ladder vehicle from the Sutphen Corporation. To quote industrial apparatus expert David Rider: “It is all about the waterway.”

That the use of foam continues to cause headaches for firefighters became obvious during the Fourth Firefighting Foam Conference that took place over the summer in the Reebok Stadium (UK). Here are some of the highlights of a most thought-provoking event.

There are plenty of choices for organisations considering to move on from ancient analogue systems. TETRA is predicted by some to become the radio communications of choice for large high-risk environments, and a new association has been founded to help users embrace the benefits of another alternative to TETRA, Digital Mobile Radio. IFJ finds out why going digital is becoming simpler for mission critical communications, and finds out some of the developments in the market.

Oiltanking Amsterdam, one of the world’s leading independent storage companies for oils, chemicals and gases, is working on two new expansion projects which will be protected by CFI rim seal protection systems. Koen van Dijk, Marketing Co-ordinator of Saval, outlines some of the benefits of using gas instead of foam as an extinguishing agent on a cone roof tanker.

Earlier this year Swedish firefighting equipment manufacturer Unifire AB launched an automatic and remote-controlled fire extinguishing system comprised of water cannons aimed for high risk environments. IFJ spoke with Unifire’s Roger Barrett James and Andrea Hoppe from partner company ThermoTemp (Germany) about the use of intelligent foam monitors interfaced with fire detectors for automatic fire extinguishing within incineration plants.

Wilf Butcher, CEO of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection, wonders why the Eurotunnel Group is not tapping into existing fire protection expertise.

Brad Williamson, industrial vehicle expert for Ferrara, explains how the US industrial fire apparatus market is
developing and how new legislation is driving industrial apparatus towards more eco-friendly design.

Fire safety specialist ARK Security commissioned  ochiki Europe to deliver the sensing technology for one of Iceland’s most high-profile renewable energy projects in recent years.

Graham Simons, regulatory manager, Notifier and Morley-IAS by Honeywell EMEAI, raises some questions regarding fire alarm equipment and the European Commission’s Construction Products Directive.

Andrej Cufer of Slovenian company Orbi Park exposes the current fire safety weaknesses of three tunnels of different lengths, proposing some effective solutions that are more cost effective than those planned by the operators.