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Issue link: https://ssn.epubxp.com/i/247003
20 Fire SyStemS inStallation www.securitysystemsnews.com february 2014 SeCurITy SySTeMS NeWS fire SyStemS inStallation Fike's new president touts green solution By Tess Nacelewicz Batz added that the comBLUE SPRINGS, Mo.—Fike, a pany also is "very bullish on global fre and life safety solu- the North American markets." tions provider based here, is One solution it's touting starting the new year with a there is its PROINERT2 green new president: Brad Batz. solution, which was just introBatz most recently led Fike's duced to the U.S. market in oil and gas business unit and late 2013. The environmenpreviously led the tally friendly gaseous company's corpofire extinguishing rate operations. solution has been Fike is the parent available in Europe company of Fike for more than year, Video Image Detecwhere it has met tion, a video smoke with great success, detection company according to the formerly called company. axonX, which Fike Batz told SSN, Brad Batz acquired in 2009. "We're very excited Batz said Fike's goals for about being able to offer a high 2014 include "continuing quality solution that truly is a to get closer to our custom- green solution to our customers and understanding their ers." Batz observed that envineeds," and also investing in ronmentally friendly products the organization, in everything are "a very important aspect of from "manufacturing capabili- the North American market ties and talent and expansion and becoming more so conacross the globe." tinually." SSN Benevolence benefits Briscoe By Tess Nacelewicz for Briscoe's commitment to CENTEREACH, N.Y.—Being nonprofts, according to comgood to nonprofits is also pany President Bob Williams. good for business. That's what Williams said the values of Briscoe Protective Systems, an his grandfather, Bert Briscoe, engineered systems fre are at the core of the and security comcompany, founded pany based here, has in 1978. found in offering cost"Bert believed effective products and in helping people services to nonprofts, through a corporate ranging from extendresponsibility to the ed warranties to free community," Wiltraining classes. liams said in a pre"I'll tell you what Denise Rueda pared statement. comes from it: an outThe nonprofstanding reputation. Because its Briscoe works with range just like a bad vendor, a good from small agencies to ones vendor, the word spreads," said with more than 100 sites, and Denise Rueda, Briscoe public they provide such services as relations director. "… That working with autistic children, word of mouth has brought us helping the homeless and givbusiness." ing addicts a chance at recovBolstering the bottom line ery, Rueda said. BriSCOe see page 22 isn't the prime motivation Tennessee company Ontario legislation expands branch offce praised By Tess Nacelewicz By Tess Nacelewicz MARKHAM, Ontario—New public safety legislation will beneft Ontario residents and the fre alarm industry, according to Steve Clemens, the executive director of the Canadian Fire Alarm Association, based here. He said an important law recently approved in Ontario "is vulnerable occupancy legislation, which is really going to help our industry." A vulnerable occupancy is a place where people with physical and mental disabilities live, and the new legislation requires professional maintenance of their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, Clemens said. With the new legislation, he told Security Systems News, "we don't have to worry about the property owner or the occupant of a building where there's vulnerable [people with] handicaps or learning or physical disabilities; now they're going to be mandated that they ONtariO see page 22 Roberts explained. MCMINNVILLE, Tenn.—Security EquipHe declined to discuss terms of the deal ment Co., based here, recently announced with PSCD other than to say that "we made the purchase of the assets of Knoxville, an arrangement that was satisfactory to our Tenn.-based Professional Security Con- company and the owner [of PSCD] as well." sulting & Design (PSCD), adding several Steve Rubin of Long Grove, Ill.-based Davis hundred accounts to the company's eastern Mergers and Acquisitions Group assisted Tennessee area. PSCD in the sale. McKenzie "Ken" Roberts, Roberts said that Security Equippresident of Security Equipment, ment, founded in 1977 and now said his company already had a with about 25 employees, has made small branch offce in Knoxville other modest buys over the years and with about fve employees, so the this one in similar in the way PSCD's addition of PSCD's staff has "actubusiness meshes with what Security ally about doubled the size of our Equipment does. Knoxville offce." "Technically, it's an acquisition but Roberts estimates 30 percent Ken Roberts in reality we look at it as kind of a to 40 percent of Security Equipmerger and we approach any of the ment's business is fre-related, and said the customers that were part of the previous busibuy increases fre opportunities for Security ness that way," Roberts said. Equipment because that company is UL-listRoberts said his company provides a broad ed—something the city of Knoxville requires range of services, with fre key among them. for fre alarms—while PSCD was not. "We're a Notifer [by Honeywell] dealer, and "Our Knoxville offce is a UL-listed fre we install a lot of fre alarm systems. … We installer. …PSCD was not UL-listed and we service a substantial number of school sysare UL-listed as an installer in that area and tems… Most of the counties we service are in so that does allow us to offer a broader range rural areas and we're kind of their go-to-guy in of services to the former PSCD customers," providing low-voltage services." SSN briefs Brothers Fire Protection joins housing group ELK RIVER, Minn.—Brothers Fire Protection has joined the Minnesota Multi Housing Association. "MHA is a statewide, nonproft trade organization that promotes the highest standards in the development, management and maintenance of rental and owner-occupied multihousing," said Brothers Fire President Stephen Cieslukowski, in a prepared statement. He said the company is "very pleased to be a part of this organization. Since our inception, the multihousing market has been a mainstay of Brothers Fire Protection. From providing fre sprinkler and security systems to the servicing and inspection of these systems, Brothers Fire Protection understands the needs of the 2,100 members of this organization and their more than 250,000 units." CO alarm saves family after battery change MOORESVILLE, N.C.—A family here had been sick for days when, on a whim, the father of the family looked at his home's carbon monoxide detector. The battery had been installed backward, so the father changed it. The family awoke just hours later when the shrill alarm alerted them to the toxic gas their furnace had been emitting, which had been poisoning them, according to a Charlotte Observer story. The family, whose symptoms included headaches, dizziness and vomiting, were treated at a local hospital and released. Last year, three people died in a twomonth period in a Boone, N.C. hotel room when CO leaked up from an improperly ventilated pool heater. Only after the third death—of an 11-year-old boy—did offcials discover CO was the cause. North Carolina then passed a law mandating CO detectors in certain hotel rooms. Silent Knight training expands curriculum NORTHFORD, Conn.—Silent Knight by Honeywell is offering introductory and advanced fre alarm training in 20 states. This year's curriculum has been expanded to include Silent Knight's multicriteria fre and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as its emergency voice system. Demand for carbon monoxide detection is rising because of new legal requirements, and because it's cheaper to combine fre and CO detection in one device, according to a news release. The Silent Knight Tech Ed course demonstrates the company's EVS and how to program it, the release said. For full course descriptions and a 2014 training schedule, visit www.silentknight.com.