We all want to make sure we are protected from fire. Not only ourselves and our property, but our staff and neighbors are also at risk if something happens and a fire breaks out. One way to do this is with fire sprinklers. They are fast-acting and can really prevent damages by fire that would be happening while waiting for the fire department to arrive. But like anything, they become victims to wear and tear. This is why it is important to fire your fire sprinkler system inspected regularly. If you doubt the importance of fire sprinkler inspections, here are a few reasons to convince you why you should take them seriously:
Water supply and pressure. The efficiency of a fire sprinkler system relies on the available water supply. If too low, then the system won’t be able to work as it is intended to and fires will spread quicker, rendering the sprinklers almost useless.
Proper water flow. While pressure is checked during the initial design and installation phase, continued periodical checking makes sure the fire sprinkler system is okay and working properly.
Obstruction-free. The whole system will also be checked for obstructions that may damage the system. These obstructions are then cleaned out periodically to make sure that the fire sprinkler system works as intended.
It may be required by law. In most states, including California, the National Fire Protection Agency have set out quite a few regulations regarding fire sprinkler systems. They mandate the installation of such systems, especially in commercial buildings, but also require them to be checked periodically by a licensed inspector.
For more information about fire sprinkler inspection, call CJ Suppression at 888-821-2334 or visit the website at www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression proudly serves Corona, CA and all surrounding areas.
While it’s true that most commercial buildings, and in many cases even residential ones, have some form of fire protection systems installed, not all put a premium on just how important they are. In fact, many often only have such systems installed because of certain bylaws or as requirements for certifications. If owners were given the chance, most commercial buildings probably wouldn’t have any kind of fire protection system installed, except for maybe a fire extinguisher or two.
According to the United States’ NFPA, residential fire sprinkler systems increase the resident’s survival expectancy during an accidental fire by as much as 80% because they’re the fastest to respond and control a fire at its exact point of origin.
While it is easy to raise the point on how fire
extinguishers are enough, one has to remember that in fires, it’s not the heat
nor flames that are the most dangerous. Rather, the aspect that poses the most
hazard to one’s health are the toxic fumes and smoke produced by a fire. Even
with fire sprinkler systems, toxic fumes and smoke will still be there, but
their production will be significantly reduced to breathable levels, which
could easily mean the difference between life and death.
It’s also important to remember that sudden fires can easily spread out to uncontrollable levels in just a few seconds. However, with fire sprinklers, that few seconds could extend to as much as 10 minutes, which is more than enough time for people to evacuate the vicinity and for the firefighters to arrive.
For more information about our services, call CJ Suppression at 888-821-2334 or visit the website at www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression proudly serves Corona, CA and all surrounding areas.
A fire broke out Wednesday morning in a 25-story Westside
residential building, sending residents climbing out windows and fleeing to the
rooftop to escape the flames. The blaze, which erupted on the sixth floor at
the Barrington Plaza apartments in the 11700 block of Wilshire Boulevard, was
reported shortly after 8:30 a.m. by fire crews, who were tending a nearby blaze
that had begun earlier.
At least 300 firefighters responded to help battle the fire
and evacuate residents inside the building. Eleven residents were injured;
seven were sent to a hospital for treatment, including a 3-month-old baby, and
four were treated at the scene. Most were suffering from smoke inhalation. Two
firefighters suffered minor burns.
One 30-year-old man required CPR and was listed in grave
condition Wednesday afternoon, and another 30-year-old man was in critical
condition, according to Los Angeles Fire Capt. Erik Scott. “The preliminary
information is the two most critically injured … were both in the unit of fire
origin,” Scott said.
Fire officials initially reported that some people had
jumped from the building to escape the flames. Authorities later clarified that
two people contemplated jumping but were rescued by fire officials. Residents
crawled on their bellies through thick smoke to escape. One man was seen
clinging to a ledge before a fire ladder was hoisted up to him. “This could
have been much worse,” Scott said.
Fire officials said residents won’t be allowed back into the
building overnight while they investigate the blaze, which was deemed
suspicious.
Firefighters took an unconventional approach in battling the
flames, hosing the building from the outside in an effort to cool the units
before allowing firefighters to tackle the flames inside. The bulk of the fire
was on the sixth floor of the 240-unit high-rise, though three other levels
were damaged by smoke, officials said.
While some crews focused on the fire inside, others were
tasked with evacuations. At least 15 people, some in bathrobes, were airlifted
to safety from the building’s rooftop. Officials said it was the first time the
fire chopper had been used in rescue efforts. “This was a herculean effort by
the members of the Los Angeles Fire Department,” said Fire Chief Ralph
Terrazas. “It takes a lot of coordination, and our resources did a good job.”
After an intense, hourlong battle that was made more
challenging by strong winds gusting up to 35 mph, firefighters were able to
knock down the flames shortly before 10 a.m. Deputy Police Chief Justin
Eisenberg said the Los Angeles Police Department and arson investigators were
studying the blaze to determine whether it was criminal or accidental. No one
has been arrested in connection with the fire, he said. The separate fire that
started earlier in the morning about three blocks away also is part of the
investigation.
Mackenzie Williams, 25, said she was driving to work at Pure
Barre — a fitness studio at Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue — about 9
a.m. when she “saw one firetruck pass by me, then I saw two, then I saw 10,
then I saw about 20, so I definitely knew something was going on.” After seeing
smoke pouring from the building and the helicopter evacuations, she said, “I
just hope everyone is OK over there.”
John Tavakoli was outside when the floor where his
grandmother lives burst into flames. As firefighters rushed to evacuate her and
her neighbors, his initial horror settled into smoldering rage — another fire
like this one had burned here a few years ago, but little had changed. Like
others, he blamed the revolving door of short-term renters for unsafe
conditions in the building.
“A lot of people Airbnb here.” he said. “They party all
night — they’re up until 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, he said, safety issues have gone unaddressed.
“Our rent goes up, utilities go up, but one elevator’s
always broken,” he said.
Resident Gavyn Straus stood barefoot on the sidewalk,
holding a towel around his American-flag bathing suit as he watched a Sheriff’s
Department helicopter hoisting stranded neighbors off the roof. He had been in
the pool swimming laps when he turned his head for a breath and noticed the
smoke. Right away, he leaped out of the pool and dashed up to alert neighbors
on his floor.
The smoke “was like a black wall” on the seventh floor, he
said. Higher up, he started banging on doors, telling neighbors to get out.
Twins Kristina and Kimberly Pagano, recent UCLA grads, were
asleep in their apartment when the fire broke out. They woke up to the sound of
firetrucks. Moments later, the building fire alarm went off, and they rushed
outside.
Both immediately thought of the 2013 fire, believed to have
been sparked by a cigarette. The building still allows residents to smoke in
their units on designated floors, which the sisters had toured before moving
in. Like others, they said the building hosts a large number of short-term
visitors.
“We always see people with luggage,” Kristina said.
“It’s like a hotel,” Kimberly agreed.
Officials have said that there is no indication the fire was
caused by anyone smoking inside or that it broke out in a unit rented as an
Airbnb. The building is covered by L.A.’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which
limits annual rent increases for tenants, but some of its units are exempt from
that law, according to housing department spokeswoman Sandra Mendoza. Under an
ordinance that went into effect last year, Angelenos cannot rent out their
apartments for short stays if they live in a rent-stabilized unit.
The 2013 fire erupted on the 11th floor of the building,
displacing up to 150 residents and injuring two people. It also raised concerns
about a lack of sprinkler systems in some buildings in Los Angeles. Barrington
Plaza was not equipped with a sprinkler system at the time. Because it was
built nearly 60 years ago, it does not fall under state regulations later
adopted that forced buildings taller than 75 feet to include such
fire-suppression systems unless granted an exemption.
Los Angeles has a loophole in its fire code that allows 71 residential high-rises to house tenants despite having no fire sprinklers in the buildings. The structures were built between 1943 and 1974, when new codes required sprinklers.
Deputy Chief Armando Hogan said Wednesday the building still
does not have sprinklers. There have been repeated attempts to require older
buildings to install sprinkler systems, including a push after Barrington
Plaza’s last fire, but landlords at the time argued they would cost too much.
A year ago, the City Council again tabled a proposal to
require sprinklers in all buildings. One of the sponsors of the measure said
the issue lost momentum amid opposition from landlords, but Councilman Mike
Bonin said he will reintroduce a mandate for sprinklers in light of the latest
blaze.
Curtis Massey, chief executive of fire safety consulting
company Massey Emergency Management, said the sprinkler systems typically seen
in modern high-rises quickly douse flames before they have a chance to spread. “It’s
like an on-duty 24-hour firefighter that’s able to respond faster in most
circumstances to a fire than the building staff or the fire department,” said
Massey, whose company has worked on fire preparedness plans for Century Plaza
and the Wilshire Grand Center.
Modern fire safety features also include elevator and
stairwell-pressurization systems that keep the smoke out of those areas, he
said.
In 2014, a group of tenants in the high-rise sued the
building’s corporate owner for negligence. According to residents, several fire
alarms failed to sound in Barrington Plaza as the October 2013 blaze spread. A
door to the roof was locked and the stairwells filled with choking smoke,
tenants said. “The conditions at the supposedly high-end apartment building
were atrocious,” attorney Mark Geragos said at the time.
Resident Ivo Gerscovich’s 2-year-old daughter and
father-in-law were found unconscious in a smoke-filled stairwell above the 20th
floor during the 2013 fire. “It’s a deathtrap,” Gerscovich said then. “It’s
totally insane and indefensible.” Ben Meiselas, an attorney with Geragos’ firm,
said the building “is a relic of the 1960s.” “It conformed to codes of the
1960s, and since that time, they’ve availed themselves through grandfather
clauses of the building codes of that bygone era,” he said.
Meiselas said building owners should be required to
prominently display whether their structures adhere to current codes. “You have
this building that advertises itself as a class-A luxury building, but back in
2013, at least, it really had fundamental safety issues,” he said.
Residents said that they weren’t aware of any additional
safety measures. “This situation really scares me,” said Ploy Pengsomboon, who
was able to evacuate from her ninth-floor unit only after smelling smoke and
hearing firetruck sirens. “I’m scared if one day I’m in a deep sleep and
something like this happens. I didn’t get a chance to prepare. They should tell
everyone to get out and shouldn’t let us learn about it ourselves.”
The blaring of a fire alarm woke 84-year-old Dan Karzen, who
has lived in Barrington Plaza for 20 years. “I had my pajamas on, so I had to
hurry to put some clothes on, grab my phone and walk out the door of my
16th-floor apartment,” Karzen said. “I knew it was bad because there was all
this smoke.”
After leaving the building, he crossed the street to a strip
mall, where he stopped to await word from fire officials. “I don’t know when
we’re going to go back in, and I don’t want to leave because all my stuff is up
there,” he said.
When Liz Bowers was jolted awake by sirens, she smelled
smoke and immediately thought it couldn’t be another fire, remembering the 2013
blaze. But when she looked out her window, there it was. “I was like … it’s
Tower A again,” she said. She had a clear view of the flames and clouds of
black smoke. She could hear screams and windows blowing out from the heat of
the flames. Bowers ran downstairs to the public pool area shared by the two
buildings and continued watching as firefighters worked to quell the flames and
rescue residents. After witnessing the dramatic events, she decided she’d had
enough. She needs to move out.
Bowers thought about all the times she could smell cigarette
and marijuana smoke from her apartment, the result of little oversight from
building managers, she said. She spent three years knocking on the leasing
office’s door, writing letters and making phone calls to building managers.
Eventually, she gave up. “They should have put sprinklers in after the [2013]
fire,” she said. “They let everybody smoke. There’s a lot of Airbnb [rentals].
You get all these people coming into party and smoke pot. The landlords don’t
care.”
Times staff writers Matt Stiles, Dakota Smith, Colleen Shalby, Andrew J. Campa, Emily Alpert Reyes, James Rainey and Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.
For more information about our services, call CJ Suppression at 888-821-2334 or visit the website at www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression proudly serves Corona, CA and all surrounding areas.
Conducting regular maintenance and inspections for residential sprinklers are always a good idea, especially if you have a family you need to protect. Besides, they’re not even that difficult to do and you can easily do it yourself. Here are a few tips to protecting your property:
Make visual checks on all your shutoff valves. The first step is to make a visual check on all the water shutoff valves to see if they’re all open and if the storage tank is full.
Conduct flow tests periodically.Flow tests are also a definite must and should be conducted every few months. Having a system with a clearly-labeled flow-test valve that sprinkles to the outside can help tremendously in this regard. To test, simply open the valve slowly and let the water run its course for more than a minute.
Check the sprinkler components. Make sure that the sprinkler heads and cover plates are not painted over as this will cause problems with their operation.
Use visual signs. Majority of hazards resulting from sprinklers often result from locking the sprinkler valves in the closed position by mistake. Placing signs near the sprinkler components can help remind you and anyone in your house or building what the correct positions are.
Secure the control valves. If your valves are connected to your fire alarm system, you can supervise them electronically. You can also try putting up LO/TO signs to prevent unauthorized closures.
If you have doubts about whether you’ve checked it properly or not, check with your local fire marshal regarding laws regarding sprinklers your area and how to know if a sprinkler inspector is licensed and legitimate.
For more information about in-home fire sprinklers, call CJ Suppression at 888-821-2334 or visit the website at www.cjsuppression.com.
Accepting patients from Chino, Ontario, Redlands, Moreno Valley, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, Fontana and all surrounding areas.
While it’s true that plenty of states do not conduct sprinkler inspections once they’ve been installed, let alone require them, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t regularly inspect them yourself.
Basic Sprinkler Maintenance Tips
Conducting regular maintenance and inspections for residential sprinklers are always a good idea. Besides, they’re not even that difficult to do and you can easily do it yourself.
Make visual checks on all your shutoff valves. The first step is to make a visual check on all the water shutoff valves to see if they’re all open and if the storage tank is full. The latter is optional since not all sprinkler systems have their own storage tanks. Those living in areas where temperatures routinely drop below zero, as well as those where the pipes are placed in the attic should also check their pipes to see if they’re properly insulated.
Conduct flow tests periodically. Flow tests are also a definite must and should be conducted every few months. Having a system with a clearly-labeled flow-test valve that sprinkles to the outside can help tremendously in this regard. To test, simply open the valve slowly and let the water run its course for more than a minute. Also, keep in mind that if your sprinkler system is connected to the fire alarm, this testing may cause it to trigger. So, before doing this, make sure that you notify your alarm company first so the fire department aren’t called by mistake.
Check the sprinkler components. Another thing that you should do is to make sure that the sprinkler heads and cover plates are not painted over as this will cause problems with their operation. Also, place stacks of boxes and shelves far away from the heads.
Use visual signs. Majority of hazards resulting from sprinklers often result from locking the sprinkler valves in the closed position by mistake. Placing signs near the sprinkler components can help remind you and anyone in your house or building what the correct positions are.
Secure the Control Valves. Routinely check if all sprinkler control valves are locked in the open position. If your valves are connected to your fire alarm system, you can supervise them electronically. You can also try putting up LO/TO signs to prevent unauthorized closures.
Whether it’s required in your area or not, what’s true is that sprinklers have a long history of saving both buildings and lives from fires over the years. True, there’s no such thing as absolute protection when it comes to accidental fires, but having a sprinkler system that works properly and having a fire alarm system in place could mean the difference between lives lost to just a few pieces of furniture being burnt or destroyed.
If you have doubts about whether you’ve checked it properly or not, you can hire a sprinkler contract to double check it for you. Be sure to check with your local fire marshal as well to tell you about what sort of laws regarding sprinklers govern your area and how to know if a sprinkler inspector is licensed and legitimate.
Fire sprinklers are not new. In fact, they’ve been around for more than a century already and, in that time, sprinklers have prevented potential catastrophes, as well as saved the lives of thousands of people. Though, if that’s the case, why are many homeowners still hesitant to have them installed in their own homes?
Well, there are many reasons for that, the main being that plenty of homeowners don’t really think that they’re that good of an investment.
Fire sprinklers add to a continuously growing list of expenses that homeowners have to account for. Plus, most are content with simply installing fire alarms and extinguishers. And, if needed be, most people today have access to help, courtesy of the nearest local fire station.
Still, before you dismiss the need to have fire sprinklers installed in your own home, you may want to keep these following things in mind:
As smart as smoke alarms are these days, they can’t extinguish fire. Sprinklers do, though, and they will continue to do so as you and your family run for safety. Also, by stopping the fire as soon as it starts, sprinklers can prevent, or at least reduce the amount of property damage.
Real life sprinklers cover only the area of the fire. Contrary to popular belief, sprinklers are activated individually. This means that the closest sprinkler to the fire is the only one that will activate. In most cases, just one sprinkler is enough to contain your average house fire and prevent further damage.
Sprinklers are not activated by smoke. Your fire alarm going off because of burned toast and a snuffed candle certainly can be annoying. With sprinklers, you don’t have to worry about that because they are activated via heat, not smoke.
Sprinklers will activate almost immediately. It won’t take longer than a minute for the nearest sprinkler to activate and spray water onto the fire. That’s a whole lot less time than it takes for your local firefighters to get to your home. Also, sprinklers can help slow down the fire and minimize the damage done until the firefighters arrive to completely douse the fire.
Sprinklers are cost-effective, somewhat. Not that you’re paying for their water, but firefighters use an average of 2,935 gallons to extinguish your regular residential fire. That’s many times more than the 341 gallons of water used by sprinklers on average.
Residential sprinklers don’t have to look bad. Another common misconception among homeowners is that sprinklers always have to appear bulky and therefore, may interfere with their whole interior décor. That’s not exactly true, though, because today’s sprinklers are available in a variety of designs for homeowners to choose from.
Your insurance provider may lower your premiums thanks to your sprinkler system. Be sure to contact your home insurance provider to know if this applies to you.
The costs of having sprinklers installed far outweigh the costs of losing a huge part of your house. In some cases, families lose their entire homes because of residential fires. Don’t let that happen to your family by having sprinklers installed.
For more information about fire sprinklerscall CJ Suppression in Corona, CA at 888-821-2334 or visit www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression also proudly serves Corona, San Bernardino, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Victorville, Irvine, and surrounding areas.
Many people hear the term ‘fire suppression’, and naturally think of certain environments – like electronics-filled datacenters, where traditional fire sprinklers not only only not effective, but potentially very damaging to the assets they’re meant to protect. However, fire suppression systems come in many different styles, and can be incredibly useful for a variety of industries.
Here are some examples:
– In kitchen environments, wet chemicals such as potassium carbonate are often used
– In areas with high volumes of flammable liquids, many suppression systems tend to use foams, such as custom detergents or polysaccharides,
– In areas that are sensitive to liquid damage, such as datacenters, medical offices, and libraries, peptafluoropropane (a colorless halocarbon gas) can suppress fire without damaging paper or electronics
– In areas with explosive fluids, such as gasoline, solvents, or propane, dry chemical suppressants are often used, such as sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, or Monnex (potassium allophananate)
– In areas that are unoccupied, such as transformer vaults and electrical containment rooms, carbon dioxide may be used
– Finally, in places where ordinary substances need to be protected, simple water or water mist may be used.
There are a wide variety of fire suppression systems, and knowing which to use is difficult. There are a number of different federal, state and local codes to follow, and industry best practices to consider when designing, installing, and maintaining your fire suppression system, so consulting with an expert is vital to complying with the law and maintaining a safe environment for both people and assets.
For more information about fire suppression services call CJ Suppression in Corona, CA at 888-821-2334 or visit www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression also proudly serves Corona, San Bernardino, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Victorville, Irvine, and surrounding areas.
Fire suppression is a science – from the choice of materials, to the placement of the suppression system, it takes a significant amount of education and experience to properly design and implement a suppression system capable of meeting its designed purpose. However, design and implementation are just two of the three components of a successful fire suppression system – just as important is the third phase, maintenance.
Proper fire suppression maintenance is vital – the company that designed and implemented the suppression system likely set a maintenance schedule that included hardware inspection, routine replacement of some components, and testing. It’s important that all three of those schedules are followed – so important, in fact, that it’s often required by law or local fire codes, even if inconvenient. For example, in Colorado, the Colorado Department of Transportation will close a tunnel along I-70 two nights in November 2015 to test their fire suppression system – using heat detection to trigger a water system and activate cameras. Proper testing will confirm all three aspects of the system – not only will it determine if the heat detection is as accurate as intended, and that it functions properly once installed, but the test will confirm that the water suppression is accurately triggered, and that the monitoring cameras properly activate to allow personnel to assess the nature of the fire.
If you have a building, assets, and people to protect, having a proper suppression system is step 1 – it will not only protect that which is important to you, but will also allow you to comply with relevant codes. A competent designer and installer of your system will be able to create maintenance and testing plans – if your vendor does not offer a maintenance and testing plans, be sure to consider other vendors, as all reputable vendors will have a maintenance and testing plans available.
For more information about fire suppression services call CJ Suppression in Corona, CA at 888-821-2334 or visit www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression also proudly serves Corona, San Bernardino, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Victorville, Irvine, and surrounding areas.
While many companies know that there are many great reasons to install fire suppression systems – compliance, lower risk, lower insurance costs – it’s important to note that simply installing a suppression system is only one step in staying safe. Fire suppression systems are often complex pieces of engineering, and they require care, testing, and maintenance in order to remain functional.
The exact maintenance regime needed depends on the suppression system and use case. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) has guidelines not only for the types of systems that should be used in various settings, but also for the ongoing maintenance of those systems for proper compliance and safety purposes.
The type of system installed, and the nature of the building it is protecting, will determine how often it must be inspected, how often it should be tested, and what type of labor will be required on the system over time. A skilled system designer, such as CJ Suppression, will not only design the system, but can also assist you in establishing and meeting the maintenance and inspection requirements in order to keep your system functioning properly so that if a fire were to occur, lives and property can be saved.
Regular maintenance will identify minor problems before they turn into system failures, allowing you to correct them quickly and inexpensively, rather than allowing them to fail. With automatic scheduling of maintenance activities, you never need to worry about surprise fire department inspections – you’ll be up to date, properly maintained, properly inspected, and fully functional whenever the fire department decides to visit.
For more information about fire suppression maintenance call CJ Suppression in Corona, CA at 888-821-2334 or visit www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression also proudly serves Corona, San Bernardino, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Victorville, Irvine, and surrounding areas.
Usually when a suppression system malfunctions or does not deploy when needed can be a disaster. Fortunately this time the malfunction was quite amusing! While we’re sure the business owner was unamused, with no environmental or safety hazards to worry about, the scene, as seen in the video below, was quite the site!
“Peel Regional Police were called to Vedeete Drive in the Derry and Airport Roads area Saturday morning for traffic control after concerns fire retardant foam leaking from an airport hangar could spill onto the roadway.
Police were called to the scene at about 8:40 a.m. to assist with traffic, but found the large body of foam was mostly contained on airport property and not threatening to interfere with traffic on the main roads.
According to a Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) spokesperson, the chemical was leaking from the fire suppression system in an Air Transat hangar. The white, fluffy-looking foam floating out of the airport property hangar had no “environmental impact and no impact to commercial schedules,” the GTAA said.
Air Transat confirmed there was no fire in the hangar, which was empty at the time. “The situation is under investigation. We don’t know at this time what happened,” Air Transat Spokesperson Debbie Cabana said Saturday morning.
Cabana did not know how much of the chemical was released by the fire suppression system, but said it posed no environmental or safety threat. “Since it’s foam, this will become liquid in a few hours, so there’s no action taken at this point to remove it because it’s just going to become liquid a remove by itself,” she said(Source:mississauga.com).”
To ensure their reliability, fire systems must be inspected, tested and maintained. CJ Supression Services qualified and experienced staff stands ready to provide fire protection service and maintenance that will keep your fire protection systems reliable and code compliant.
For more information about commercial fire suppression call CJ Suppression in Corona, CA at 888-821-2334 or visit www.cjsuppression.com.
CJ Suppression also proudly serves Corona, San Bernardino, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Victorville, Irvine, and surrounding areas.