press releases Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board

Beecher Fire Chief Welcomes Community to His Home to Educate About Home Fire Sprinklers

Erik Hoffer, Executive Director of NIFSAB and Fire Chief Joe Falaschetti, Beecher Fire Department

When Beecher Fire Chief Joe Falaschetti decided to build a new home, he knew he wanted to protect his family with home fire sprinklers. In an effort to educate his community about the life- and property-saving benefits of home fire sprinklers, he conducted an open house.

The event was a success with members of the community touring the home and learning about how fire sprinkler are installed and how they operate. People who attended included Beecher Village President Marcy Meyer, Village Administrator Robert Barber, some of Falaschetti’s neighbors, firefighters and local media.

The Beecher Fire Protection District, the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB), the installing contractor Nova Fire Protection, the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) and the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) hosted the event.

“Originally, my wife and I were looking at retrofitting our current home with fire sprinklers. When we decided to build a new home, we knew we would protect it with home fire sprinklers,” Falaschetti said. “As fire chief, I’m very much aware of how quickly a fire can spread and become deadly. Unfortunately, I’ve seen my fair share of residential fires and understand the danger to the people who live in the homes and to firefighters.”

Falaschetti was convinced he wanted to live in a sprinklered home after working on a video project with HFSC and NIFSAB. A few years back, a Beecher home that was slated for demolition was used to shoot an educational video. The video, used at the national level, showcased living room fires with identical furniture – one fire with a home fire sprinkler, the other without a fire sprinkler. Beecher firefighters were on hand to make sure the video was produced safely and for their own training purposes as well.

According to Falaschetti, the fire in the unsprinklered room spread quickly. In just a few minutes flashover occurred, causing all the contents in the room to ignite.

“There was a drastic difference between that fire and the room with the sprinkler,” he said. “Heat from the fire activated the sprinkler and kept the fire from spreading. When the fire was out, the damage was minimal. If there was a family living in that home, they would have been able to safely escape; they would have been able to move back into their home in a day or two. That is what I want for my family. As chief, I also know firefighters are at risk when they respond to a house fire and fire sprinklers will protect them as well.”

Thanks to Lubrizol Blazemaster, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler, RP Equipment, and Nova Fire Protection for providing materials for the fire sprinkler system installation.

Kim Prusa, VP Residential Division, Nova Fire Protection talked about the design and installation of a home fire sprinkler system.

Erik Hoffer (NIFSAB) explains the fire sprinkler system

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Lisa2022-09-07T11:41:39-05:00August 25th, 2022|Comments Off

Fire Sprinkler System Plan Review Class in Valparaiso, IN

Plan Review for Fire Sprinkler Systems (2-Days)

Tuesday & Wednesday, August 30 & 31
8:00 am – 4:30 pm Central
(Check-in begins at 7:30 am)

MAAC Emergency Services Training Campus
4203 Montdale Park Drive
Valparaiso, IN

Boxed lunch will be provided each day.

Certificates will be issued for 16.0 ICC contact hours.

Please register by Monday, August 22.
Register at www.bit.ly/plan-review-maac
Class is FREE with gift card # GIFT-01020

(PDF View and Download)
Flyer-PlanReviewClass-08.30&31.2022

Lisa2022-08-04T11:32:04-05:00August 4th, 2022|Comments Off

Champaign Fire Sprinkler Trailer Provides Valuable Public Education

Champaign, IL – One of the most effective ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of fire sprinklers is through a fire sprinkler demonstration trailer and there is now one more in Illinois.

The Champaign Fire Department received a $146,000 FEMA grant award to build a fire sprinkler trailer and use it for public education. The trailer was designed with a bedroom at the back end so participants can realistically practice smoky bedroom escape situations. A room at the front of the trailer is equipped with a burn demonstration room containing a single fire sprinkler that demonstrates quick response to flames. The middle section will become a fire command center.

Despite some setbacks with unveiling the trailer to the public due to COVID-19, the fire department’s fully functional trailer is now ready, complete with educational fire sprinkler messaging on its exterior.

Champaign Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Simmons said the educational tool is ideal for children, students, adults, and fire department personnel. “As the fire department representative when working with the University of Illinois, I know there is a lot of potential additional use for it at campus welcoming events, education for fraternities and sororities, and things of the sort,” he says.

For more information on other fire sprinkler training and demonstration trailers offered by NIFSAB and its partner organizations, visit www.firesprinklerassoc.org/trailer.

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Lisa2022-07-29T13:48:06-05:00July 29th, 2022|Comments Off

Standpipe Donation Benefits Firefighter Training at Beecher Fire Protection District

(Left to right): FF Jeremy Horn, FF Ryan Lopina, FF Tim McGannon, Chief Joe Falaschetti and FF Bryce Budimir

Beecher, IL – The Beecher Fire Protection District’s new firefighter training tower has received an important upgrade with a standpipe and fire sprinkler system. Thanks to product donations by Viking SupplyNet and product and labor donations by Advanced Fire Protection, Beecher firefighters will soon have hands-on training opportunities to prepare for potential building fires in the community.

The training tower’s standpipe system will not only deliver water to the small fire sprinkler system on the first floor, but also to the hose connections in the stairwell for the upper floors. Connections and hose systems can be complex, so preparing fire personnel with standpipe operations training improves every aspect of future emergency response in buildings where standpipes are installed.

Beecher Fire Chief Joe Falaschetti says this donation will improve the skills of firefighters by providing practical, firsthand training in a fixed standpipe system. “It’s absolutely incredible for us to get this donation,” he says. “It allows us to train our firefighters in Beecher, but it also allows us to train our neighboring towns as well. This donation could impact up to 250 firefighters – well beyond the 50 in Beecher – and it frees up money in the budget for other training materials.”

“Last year, NIFSAB conducted our fire sprinkler valve trailer training with Chief Falaschetti and Beecher fire crews. Now, we are furthering that education and training by having coordinated the donation of the training tower’s standpipe and fire sprinkler system for the benefit of current and future generations of Beecher firefighters,” notes NIFSAB Executive Director Erik Hoffer. “We’re thankful for such wonderful fire sprinkler industry partners that support us in supporting the fire service.”

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Lisa2022-07-29T09:28:14-05:00July 28th, 2022|Comments Off

Valparaiso Fire Department Open House Will Showcase Home Fire Sprinkler Installation

Valparaiso, IN – The Valparaiso Fire Department will host an open house in a home protected with fire sprinklers on April 26 from 3:00 to 7:00 P.M. at 504 Grandview Avenue in Valparaiso. The purpose is to introduce the community to the benefits of living in a home with installed fire sprinklers. Led by Valparaiso Division Chief of Community Risk Reduction and Fire Marshal Tim Stites, the event will include a tour of the home, a presentation on how home fire sprinklers work and answers to other common questions, such as installation cost and home property insurance discounts.

Chief Stites will be joined by the homeowner, Celina Weatherwax, president of the Multi-Agency Academic Cooperative (MAAC) Foundation, Valparaiso Fire Chief Chad Ditz and Ron Ritchey with the National Fire Sprinkler Association. Other participants include the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, which will share its new virtual reality (VR) home fire and sprinkler video experience, and installing contractor Valley Fire Protection Systems.

Chief Stites believes every home should be protected with fire sprinklers for maximum safety. “It is important because you are more likely to die in a home fire today than you were 40 years ago due to the combustibility of the furnishings and the features in our home,” he said. “Fires burn hotter and faster now. Fire sprinklers allow more time to get out of your home and more time for the fire department to arrive and fully extinguish the fire.”

We’ve partnered with the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition to share their virtual reality resources,” Ritchey notes. “Wearing VR headsets, members of the public will be able to experience a home fire as if they were inside a burning home. This virtual experience helps people understand the amount of toxic, black smoke produced by a fire and just how fast fires spread in modern homes. They can see for themselves the devastation that occurs when there are no fire sprinklers installed. They’ll also see how much less damage there is in a home where a fire sprinkler activates to control or extinguish a fire. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a virtual reality video even more.”

Weatherwax became interested in protecting her family home with fire sprinklers after seeing a Valparaiso Fire Department fire sprinkler demonstration on the MAAC Foundation campus last August. “It was a reality check for me,” she recalls. “It made me start thinking as I proceeded with building my new home what I could do to implement this. All these years I’ve read and heard about the significance of fire sprinklers,, but when I saw that demonstration live in action, I thought this installation was important for me to do.” Weatherwax hopes opening her home for others to see will help them see the importance of fire sprinklers as well.

Valparaiso Open House Flyer

Lisa2022-04-20T17:53:44-05:00April 14th, 2022|Comments Off

Bedford Park Fire Department Receives FEMA Grant to Protect Headquarters Station with Fire Sprinklers

Bedford Park Fire Department: (left to right) Fire Marshal Mark Murray, Fire Chief Sean Maloy and Deputy Fire Chief Bill Thomas

Fire Marshal Mark Murray, Bedford Park Fire Department

Firefighters have two homes – one where they live with their families and one where they live during their fire department shifts. And just like their family home, firefighters need protection from the dangers of fire when they’re at the station, whether cooking, working, or sleeping. Fortunately for firefighters at Bedford Park Fire Department’s headquarters station, their second home now has the ultimate fire protection with installed fire sprinklers.

Ninety-five percent of the cost of the fire sprinkler retrofit installation was covered by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant award.

“It has been a goal of mine to get this building retrofitted before I retire,” said Bedford Park Fire Chief Sean Maloy. “Now I will have peace of mind knowing the crew is protected when they are on the job.”

The station was built in 1976, with an addition in 1992, totaling 16,500 square feet. It contains an ambulance and a fire engine, a hazmat squad, and two reserve engines. Five to six firefighters staff the fire station each day with three to four administrative staff on shift during the week. The station includes sleeping quarters to accommodate up to seven firefighters.

“I am thankful that we got the grant when we did,” notes Maloy. “I know a neighboring department that had a fire in their firehouse while they were out on a run, and that building wasn’t sprinklered. So that station was out of service for some time. It took a toll on response times, which is ‘how fast can we get there when you need us.’”

Another consideration Maloy made with the grant request is a fire sprinkler ordinance in the village of Bedford Park. Every commercial building (and a few residential homes as well) are sprinklered. “I believe we should practice what we preach, which is why we made sure the other two stations were sprinklered when we designed and built them,” he says. “This retrofit was the last piece to the puzzle.”

The contractor for the project was United States Alliance Fire Protection, with foremen Dan Casey and Pat Sanders, third fitter Dan Rocks, and engineer Frank Papisee. The four worked around the firefighters’ activities to install the fire sprinklers as the firefighters actively lived and worked in the station. Jamie Reap oversaw the project.

“It’s gratifying that fire sprinklers now protect firefighters and their equipment,” says Reap. “There are too many similar stories of a firehouse burning down while the crew is out facing a different fire, and I think it’s only fitting these folks should be protected in the place that’s like a second home. The station is sleeping quarters for any number of these firefighters at any given time, and to have that level of comfort knowing that they have a fire protection system in place to take care of things is a really nice thought. I know they will probably like that too.”

Bedford Park Fire Dept

Firefighter’s sleeping quarters

Kitchen and relaxation area

Locker area

Lisa2022-04-20T17:52:38-05:00April 14th, 2022|Comments Off

Valparaiso Offers Fire Safety Grants to Protect Buildings in Historic District

The city of Valparaiso, Indiana, offers a grant program to help encourage the installation of fire safety systems in existing buildings in its historic downtown district. The Downtown Fire Safety Grant Program provides reimbursement grants to property owners and tenants to underwrite the costs of installing fire sprinkler systems and fire alarms in existing commercial and residential buildings.

Reimbursement grant maximum limits will be set forth in an agreement between the city and the property owner or tenant. Grant limits are as follows:

New fire alarm system: 100% reimbursement up to $10,000.
New fire suppression system (complete or partial): Reimbursement up to 85%, subject to the following:
1. Total building square footage is less than 9,000: Reimbursement shall not exceed $30,000.
2. Total building square footage is 9,001-15,000: Reimbursement shall not exceed $45,000.
3. Total building square footage exceeds 15,000: Reimbursement shall not exceed $60,000.
New fire protection system: 75% reimbursement up to $5,000.

Generally, the city may reimburse for eligible fire protection installation, extended water service, and approved devices and equipment. Full eligibility details are available in the grant program description.

Recognizing the threat fires pose to residents of the downtown area and the public as a whole, current Valparaiso Building Commissioner Vicki Thrasher and former Fire Chief David Nondorf developed the grant program alongside the former mayoral administration of Jon Costas. The grant program will help protect historic buildings, improve public safety, and prevent economic loss due to business interruption and closure.

Community Risk Reduction Division Chief and Fire Marshal of Valparaiso Fire Department Tim Stites says the program provides an important educational opportunity. “We want the public to know that fire sprinklers are crucial to fire safety and are not always true-to-life to those they see on television. I think it’s important for people to not listen to Hollywood too much on fire sprinklers,” he says. “Fire sprinklers save lives, they protect property, and reduce the risk for the community and firefighters as a whole.”

“Hollywood likes to portray fire sprinklers going off throughout the whole building; that’s not how they work. They are meant to go off one at a time and control a fire until firefighters can arrive on the scene and properly extinguish a fire to make sure everything’s safe. Fire and smoke cause more damage than the water from sprinklers.”

To be eligible for grant funding, applicants must own or rent an existing building located in the historic downtown district of Valparaiso and be up to date on their real estate taxes, with no building or property violations. Full information and applications are available on Valparaiso’s website.

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Lisa2022-03-17T07:44:05-05:00March 17th, 2022|Comments Off

Owner of The Bridge Lemont Banquet Hall Recognized for Making Fire Safety Improvement

Lemont, IL – The Lemont Fire Protection District has recognized Jerry Kulhanek, owner of The Bridge Lemont, for retrofitting his banquet hall with fire sprinklers. The fire district presented a plaque to Kulhanek during the district’s fire safety open house.

The Bridge Lemont is a rustic-industrial style wedding venue located in the historic district. The original 7,000 square foot building was constructed before fire sprinklers were required by code. Kulhanek decided to voluntarily move forward with the retrofit project after a presentation by Lemont Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Mark Blackaller, who provided him with information about a potential federal tax incentive to offset the retrofit cost.

Blackaller said he is relieved this large venue is now protected with fire sprinklers, especially because it is located in the historic district. “By putting a sprinkler system in, his customers and employees will be protected. It is benefitting the community and his business,” he said. “After the inspections, Jerry came to us and said he was very pleased that he had made the decision to go ahead and sprinkler the building.”

Installed fire sprinklers improve public safety in the historic area, Blackaller notes. “So many of the buildings are old and close together. Fire can spread quickly and possibly spread to other buildings. Buildings protected with fire sprinklers are a benefit to Lemont because the technology prevents loss of life and property, protects our firefighters from fighting large fires and it prevents economic loss due to business interruption and closure.”

Businesses of any size that retrofit their properties with fire sprinkler systems can potentially take advantage of federal tax incentives through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

For more information about the tax incentives: https://firesprinklerassoc.org/federal-incentives.

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Lisa2022-02-08T14:45:21-06:00February 7th, 2022|Comments Off

U.S. fire service organizations urge immediate action to improve fire safety in older buildings following two deadly fires

Linthicum Heights, MD, January 10, 2022 – The National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the National Fallen Fire Fighter Foundation (NFFF), International Association Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) are calling on Congress to immediately pass critical legislation to improve fire safety in public housing and older high-rise buildings.

The call follows two tragic fires in the last 5 days that claimed the lives of at least 31 people and injured well over 60. The first fire occurred at a public housing rowhouse in Philadelphia on January 5, 2022, and claimed the lives of twelve people including eight children. The second blaze occurred on January 9th in the Bronx. This second fire is the worst incident in New York City in 30 years and claimed the lives of 19 individuals. Another 63 have been reported injured, some of them critically, and the death toll may increase further in the days ahead.

Linking the two tragedies is the fact that neither building had fire sprinklers. “It’s going on thirty years since Congress passed the Federal Fire Safety Act in 1992, requiring newly built multi-family housing units to have fire sprinklers,” says Shane Ray, President of the National Fire Sprinkler Association. “The problem is that the law did not require fire sprinklers for the existing units.”

“The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates 570,000 multi-family public housing units were constructed prior to the sprinkler requirement. But fixing this problem is within our reach, with $53 billion in public housing upgrades, including fire sprinklers, in the Build Back Better bill that passed the House last year. This is another reminder why we need to pass that legislation now.”

President Ray continued “the apartment building in the Bronx was privately owned. However, there is legislation pending in Congress right now called the High-Rise Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act (H.R. 6192/S.3346) that would provide a tax incentive to property owners to install fire sprinklers. Congress needs to move this legislation immediately and not wait for another loss of life before acting.”

Passing the Build Back Better Act and the High-Rise Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act are two of the most meaningful ways that Congress can prevent more tragedies like this and help ensure the physical and mental safety of America’s fire fighters.

Chief Siarnicki of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) stated “on top of the unbearable loss for the residents and communities impacted, there is an incredible toll on firefighters too. It’s to hard to get over the sights and smells of responding to tragedies like these. There is a physical and mental toll in addition to the toxic environment that firefighters are exposed to, which cause cancer at an alarming rate. This risk and loss could easily be mitigated if the law required adequate fire protection in these buildings, especially fire sprinkler systems.”

Fire Chief Kenneth W. Stuebing, President and Chair of the Board of the IAFC concluded “Fire sprinklers have a proven history of saving lives. We urge Congress to prevent future tragedies by funding fire and life safety improvements in public housing.”

Information will continue to come out on these incidents, public policy makers should ensure funding is available to protect these facilities and no building owner should want their investment to exist without adequate fire protection. It should not take a tragedy to make changes that we have known for over a century.

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Lisa2022-01-12T10:35:05-06:00January 10th, 2022|Comments Off

New Christmas Tree Fire Safety Video Offers Safety Tips and Demonstrates How Quickly Fires Can Spread

Tinley Park, IL (December 1, 2021) – According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), holiday decorations can increase the risk for a home fire during the holiday season. In particular, Christmas trees account for more than 160 fires and result in more than $10 million in direct property damage in the United States every year. The most common causes for tree fires include issues with electrical lighting equipment, which is a factor in half of all tree fires, and heat sources such as candles or heating equipment being too close to trees.

To increase awareness about how quickly fire can spread, the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB) partnered with the Palatine Fire Department to produce a Christmas tree fire safety video for Illinois fire departments to share with their communities during the holiday season. In addition to providing fire safety tips, the video includes footage of multiple fires, with and without home fire sprinklers, that were started in identical rooms with live and artificial trees. In the unprotected rooms, the fires reached flashover in approximately three minutes or less, fully erupting into flames and reaching well over 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. In the rooms protected with home fire sprinklers, heat from the tree fires each caused a single fire sprinkler to activate in less than 20 seconds and prevent the fires from spreading.

“Christmas trees are a staple in many homes throughout the holiday season. We wanted to provide a visual to remind people to follow simple safety tips to prevent fires in their homes,” said NIFSAB Executive Director Erik Hoffer. “We do not want to see anyone without a house or home, especially during the holidays, due to a preventable fire.”

When putting up a Christmas tree, residents should follow these important safety tips that are featured in the video:

Water live trees daily.
Make sure the tree is at least 3 feet away from any heat source and it is not blocking any exits.
Use lights that are listed by a qualified testing laboratory such as UL.
Do not use lights strands with worn or broken cords or loose bulbs.
Always turn off the tree lights before leaving home or going to bed.

The new video reinforces the life- and property-saving benefits of home fire sprinklers. More than 115 communities and fire districts in Illinois require fire sprinklers in all new construction one- and two-family homes. Fire sprinklers are the only technology that actively control a fire and gives residents time to safety escape. “With home fire sprinklers, working smoke alarms, and regularly practiced fire escape plans, families can have peace of mind and comfortably enjoy the holiday season,” adds Hoffer.

View the video: https://firesprinklerassoc.org/christmas-tree-demo-video/

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Lisa2021-12-01T08:53:11-06:00December 1st, 2021|Comments Off