10 Reason ISSUE 1 2015 theLATEST Two stacks of plastic pallets each eight pallets high have ignited and the flames are doubling in size every 45 seconds With flames shooting 30 feet 9 meters the pal lets are melting into a pool of dripping plas tic with a heat release rate of 10 megawatts Yet firefighters are standing by without taking action other than to spray the surrounding test fixture with water to protect it from the extreme heat produced by the fire No this is not the beginnings of a ware house fire This fire is a controlled live burn taking place in a steel framed refractory coated laboratory under a 37 foot 11 3 meter high funnel like metal fire calorime ter with a 35 foot 10 6 meter diameter The more than 90 firefighters and fire prevention specialists standing by are behind an insu lated wall with reinforced protective glass windows while a handful of FM Global s full time firefighting technicians wait in the wings outfitted in full gear and ready to react Today is Fire Service Day at FM Global s research facility in West Glo cester Rhode Island Fire Prevention FM Global holds this event twice a year with the goal of sharing knowledge providing fire prevention specialists with a frontline look at the company s research processes and show ing the science behind FM Global recom mendations Visitors use this insight to work smarter and educate their communities This live fire is one of several demon strations that would take place today others include a hurricane simulation an earthquake simulation and a dust explosion It s impres sive the technology that they have to con stantly improve says James Jennings fire inspector in Manchester Connecticut Edu cation prevention and awareness you can t put a dollar amount on safety Indeed safety is on everyone s mind today Whether fighting fires on the front lines inspecting and prefire planning through fire prevention offices or training in standards and codes fire service professionals continu ously seek new information to improve fire protection practices For many this is their first time at the event This is a whole different side of the field from what I ve been studying says Eric Auscovitch a fire science student at the University of New Hampshire and intern at the Orange Fire Marshal s Office in Orange Connecticut The focus so far has been on firefighting but I m becoming very interested in the fire prevention side Repeat visitors are also in attendance some having taken the tour more than three times including Timothy Smith one of the fire marshals taking Auscovitch under his wing in Connecticut There is always something new to see says Smith and always new takeaways It s like seeing a movie more than once each time you notice a little more than the first Live Fire Testing Because fire is the leading cause of property damage worldwide FM Global places signifi cant focus on fire testing While today s event is primarily meant as a live presentation data such as heat release rates are being collected in the control room This type of data helps to inform future FM Global recommendations Looking around the room the different uniforms and embroidered patches signal ing the various departments represented it is clear that this is firefighter turf Veteran firefighters nod their heads in recognition of the fire s pattern not entirely surprised by its speed or extent Other less experienced fire fighters look somewhat amazed at the fire s impact on the pallets in this particular test All however are fully aware of the effect fire toxins have on the environment and are vis ibly impressed with the facility s advanced protective on site recycling process Smoke and emissions from test fires are collected via the calorimeter and then sent through an air emissions control system that can purify more than 240 000 cubic feet 6 800 cubic meters of air per minute The water used to extinguish the fire is sent to the water treatment system that can treat 200 gal lons 757 liters of water per minute With the amounts of smoke hitting the air at each fire I can only imagine the number of toxins released says James Vincent deputy fire marshal Fire Station 2 Orange It s espe cially obvious when we cut holes in the roof for ventilation and the trapped smoke shoots out thick and black The way the air is puri fied here is impressive Tim Smith also a fire marshal in Orange is attending with Vincent for the third time He adds The water recla mation is also impressive It s a green opera tion in a very dirty world Sprinkler Protection Also high on the list of priorities for testing inspecting and prefire planning are sprinkler protection systems As any firefighter will tell you sprinklers are the number one tool for fire protection when properly installed consistently maintained and drawing from an adequate water supply If any of these elements are missing from the equation the sprinklers have a strong chance of not func tioning properly says Jay Cannon assistant vice president manager SimZone Sprin klers are only as good as their water supply and if that supply is hindered in any way or even shut off completely the sprinklers can not do their job Today s kickoff video showed images of sorry sprinklers encountered in the field some in various stages of corrosion some painted over and others wrapped in foil It s impressive the technology that they have to constantly improve Education prevention and awareness you can t put a dollar amount on safety James Jennings FIRE INSPECTOR IN MANCHESTER CONNECTICUT

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