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.
Extinguishers, sprinklers, hoses, even a towel – there are many ways to put out a fire. It really just depends on the situation and the type of fire. Firefighting foam systems suppress fire by separating the fuel from the air. Depending on the type of foam system, this is done in a few different ways:
Foam covers the fuel surface and smothers the
fire.
The fuel source is cooled by the foam’s water
content.
The foam blanket suppresses the release of
flammable vapors that can mix with the air.
Engineered and manufactured fire suppression systems ensure
a rapid, thorough, and economical response to fires and spills.
Customized to application specifications, our dependable engineered systems
include bladder tanks and pump-type balanced-pressure proportioning systems;
in-line balanced-pressure proportioning systems; high-expansion foam systems;
large dry chemical systems and skids; twin-agent systems and skids; foam
trailers; large dry chemical and twin-agent trailers; monitor trailers; aqueous
film-forming foam (AFFF) pump systems; water-powered AFFF pump skids;
foam/water monitors; nozzles; eductors; ratio-flow controllers; foam makers;
foam chambers, and specialized proportioning storage and monitor trailers.
Listed high-expansion foam systems provide fire-fighting
protection for diverse applications: aircraft hangars; basements; cable
tunnels; flammable packaging areas; flammable liquid drum storage areas;
hazardous waste facilities; LNG tank farms and loading facilities; mines;
roll-paper warehouses; shipboard engine rooms, bilges, and holds; storage
buildings; warehouses; and fire breaks. The light, voluminous foam
blanket produced by our high-expansion foam systems can quickly obtain great
heights, reaching elevated flammable materials (such as on storage racks).
The foam blanket efficiently transports small amounts of water to the fire,
encapsulating the flammable vapors and causing suppression and extinguishment.
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.
When rainfall events are predicted, stay alert, and monitor
information sources. Those living in this area should follow city information
and think about what to do should they be asked to leave their homes.
Based off predicted rainfall amounts and the duration of
time in which it will occur, the National Weather Service (NWS) may issue a
Flash Flood Warning. Flash Flood Warnings will be given via television, radio
and wireless emergency alerts if your device is compatible. In the event a
Flash Flood Warning is issued for the Canyon Fire burn area, evacuation orders
may be given. If you are told to evacuate, please adhere to these orders, as
they are given to ensure your safety.
The City of Corona has a local notification system that will send telephone notifications to resident and business during an emergency. Only landlines are in the system. Register your cell phone number and select if you would like to receive an additional notification by email and/or text. Visit www.CoronaCA.gov/ENS to register!
Remember when rainfall events are predicted regardless how
large or small, stay vigilant as weather can change quickly.
In preparation for upcoming storms, up to ten free
pre-filled sandbags are available for Corona residents at Santana Park. There
are also sandbags at Fire Station #5 at Canyon Crest for residents of the
Canyon Fire burn area.
Santana Park: 598 Santana Way
Fire Station #5: 1200 Canyon Crest Drive
It is important to remember areas within and downslope of the Canyon Fire burned areas have an increased risk of erosion, flash flooding and debris flows. Remember when rainfall events are predicted regardless how large or small, stay vigilant as weather can change quickly.
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.
Did you know that small fire can start with just a little flame and fully submerge a room in less than three minutes? That’s an extremely short amount of time. But if fire sprinklers are available, they can reduce the risk of death by about 80%, so why would you not install them in the home? It may seem unnecessary, but here are six reasons you may change your mind:
The sprinkler heads activate individually. Fire sprinkler heads activate only over the area where the fire is. Only the sprinkler heads closest to the fire will activate to spray water on the fire.
Fire sprinklers are activated by heat, not smoke. For instance, if smoke from a recently blown out candle or burnt food from an over or toaster will not trigger the fire sprinkler like a smoke detector.
Many fire sprinklers activate within 30-60 seconds, growing and spreading while the firefighters are in route. The longer it takes to put out a fire, the higher the risks for residents and property damage.
Residential fire sprinklers are smaller than commercial sprinklers and can be incorporated into the ceilings of many homes. Residential sprinkler fixtures are available in many types of finishes to make them more inconspicuous.
Fire sprinklers cause less water damage than a fire hose. Fire hoses discharge 80-125 gallons per minute, while fire sprinklers only discharge around 8-25 per minute.
Smoke alarms only alert residents but won’t extinguish a fire. Fire sprinkles can put out a fire while the residents flee from their home, increasing people’s safety and reduces the amount of property damage.
For more information about fire sprinklers, 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.
Picture it…It’s Friday night and you are having a night in with friends. You pop a couple of pizzas in the oven, crack open the beverages and start to catch up with everyone. After a while, someone notices there seems to be smoke in the air but you’re having such a great time, you chalk it up to the pizza and go back to socializing. Then all of a sudden, your living room begins to fill with smoke. You call the fire department and evacuate the premises. It is scary, quite the surprise and more of a wake-up call than you would care to admit. Because you find out that the fire was started not by pizza in the oven, but a pillow that caught on fire from a nearby candle.
Many times, a tragedy can be initiated by our own carelessness. One way we can prepare for these flamed accidents is to equip your home with fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and even fire sprinklers. Think sprinklers is a bit over the top? If a fire sprinkler system was available, that sprinkler system could quickly take care of the fire, even before firefighters arrive. Not only will it minimize both fire and water damages but ensure no one was injured. With fire sprinklers going off and extinguishing the fire, this story could prevent a tragic ending. Don’t hesitate when it comes to fire protection – residential sprinkler systems can save lives. Make a call to CJ Suppression for more information about residential fire sprinkler systems.
For more information about fire sprinkler systems, 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.
The most dangerous thing about fire is not its heat or the flames, but the toxic fumes and smoke that the fire produces. It makes it hard to see and difficult to breathe, while the toxic fumes deliver a knock-out that could literally kill you before the fire has any chance of getting close to you. Given how fire spreads so quickly and how being caught in one already makes for an extremely stressful situation, thinking about killing the fire with a fire extinguisher isn’t exactly easy. Even if you do manage to get to the fire extinguisher, what happens if the flame is already too big, or that the smoke is already too thick for you to see where you’re going? Enter fire sprinklers…
When fire sprinklers are installed properly and routinely checked to make sure that they’re working, fire sprinklers can, in worse case scenarios, give you and your family as much as 10 minutes of cool, clean air to safely escape from your home.
With fire sprinkler systems, you have a means of controlling the flame. They may not be able to extinguish large fires, they are often able to contain the fire enough to keep the damage to your home at a minimum while firefighters arrive.
The added cost of having fire sprinklers installed and maintained isn’t exactly cheap but does add value to your home and insurance premiums should be cheaper. But there are also plenty of other advantages that any homeowner can enjoy if they choose to have a residential fire sprinkler system is installed – the fact that you, your family, as well as your investment, is well protected.
For more information about fire sprinklers, 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.
Shortly after the massive destruction and death toll of the Camp Fire in Paradise became known to the world in early November, the phones started ringing in Monterey County Supervisor Mary Adams’ office. Nerves were rattled among people living on the Monterey Peninsula and in Carmel Valley, and they wanted to know what was being done to prevent a similar disaster in their neighborhoods.
For some, the 1987 Morse Fire in Pebble Beach – which consumed about 160 acres and 31 structures, doing $18 million in damage – still resonates. An investigation later blamed lots of dry fuel in the forest during a drought year, winds coming off the ocean and from the east and wood-shingled rooftops covered in pine needles.
That day in May 1987, the weather conditions were just right, says Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer. The Peninsula’s fog and mild weather generally help minimize the risk of wildfires as deadly as the Camp Fire or 2017 Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, Panholzer adds, “but once in awhile we have dry hot days. Those are the days we all sweat bullets as firefighters.”
Weather is one factor in the spread of wildfires. Another is the accumulation of dry brush, dead wood and nonnative plants, which the area has plenty of, Panholzer says. It’s what has residents worried, as one Carmel resident who lives along Pescadero Canyon told the Carmel City Council in January. With homes lining one side of the forested canyon across from Pebble Beach, he said, “We have the most to lose.”
“We need to manage the forest as a healthy forest,” Panholzer says. That means thinning, and sometimes leaving dead tree trunks behind to foster a healthy ecosystem among birds and bugs. He believes Peninsula cities in wooded areas like Carmel and Pacific Grove – which contract with Monterey FD for fire services – and Monterey are doing a good job of clearing their forested areas.
Carmel is looking at renting goats in the coming year to eat up dry grass and overgrown shrubs, as has been done in Pebble Beach, says City Administrator Chip Rerig. They cost between $1,500 and $2,000 an acre, for a minimum of five acres. Goats can reach steep areas humans can’t, plus they eat poison oak.
Fostering relationships among local emergency agencies has “stepped up,” Panholzer says, including with Cal Fire, Monterey Regional Fire Protection District and others. Representatives from a number of agencies met Jan. 24 to brainstorm evacuation plans. Adams hosts a meeting for the public to ask questions of fire officials from 6-8pm on Jan. 31 at Palo Corona Regional Park.
Ultimately, however, Panholzer says residents who live in wooded areas have to be prepared for the possibility, and have plans in place for evacuating with pets, photos and important documents.
Protecting your business from fire is imperative for everyone involved. Not only in order to protect your product, but any staff and/or neighbors should also feel safe there knowing you are covered in case of fire. But designing a fire protection system isn’t as simple as a quick kit you pick up at the local hardware store. It takes a lot of planning and expertise. It can turn overwhelming very easily if you don’t have the proper training. That’s where we come in…
We begin with a site survey of the facility then provide the client with appropriate alternatives based on an assessment of the fire protection and life safety needs. We will often consult with the client’s insurance company and the local fire department for their input during the decision-making process, in order to ensure that everything is up to code and covered by insurance, then develop the appropriate engineering design.
Our CAD design services include:
Fire sprinkler design drawings with as much detail as required and then some.
All designs are based on the latest NFPA codes. All schematic CAD drawings include underground fire supply, riser details with location within structure, main and branch line locations, sprinkler head type and location.
Bid drawings can also include back-up specifications, water analysis, and hydraulic calculations.
Fire sprinkler fabrication / installation / coordination drawings include all compliments listed above including computer generated shop drawings, hydraulic calculations and material submittals.
Fire Pump and/or Ground Storage Tank installation drawings with all associated piping and equipment.
Special hazard suppression system fabrication / installation drawings.
So, if you are in need of better fire protection for your facility, consider installing a fire protection system. It is the best chance you have to keep your business successful and in one piece.
For more information about fire suppression systems, 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.