Cal Safe

2011 Board Election Results

darrell — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:54:54 +0000

The CALSAFE board Welcome Allen Quirk as the new Southern
Director and Scott Marx as a new Director at Large. We know they will be a
tremendous asset to the Association in these roles.

Allen Quirk

Allen Quirk began his career with the Fire
Protection Industry over 30 years ago when he worked for a manufacturer of Fire
Protection Equipment, Buckeye Fire Equipment.
He later worked in the wholesale side of the industry with Brooks
Equipment Company and then Pye-Barker.
In 2004 he purchased Paraclete Fire & Safety, Inc. and began his
journey in the retail side of the industry.

Allen has served on the State Fire Marshal’s
Fire Extinguisher Advisory Committee and presently serves on the Automatic
Extinguishing Systems Committee. He has
also served on various Fire Marshal work groups over the years.

Allen has been married for 26 years and has
three children and seven grandchildren.

Allen has served on the California State
Contractors Board committee that reviews and writes the questions for the C-16
Fire Protection Contractor exam.

He has been active with CALSAFE since its
formation, and presently serves as the Southern Director. He brings much experience
and energy to his request to serve again as Southern Director.

Scott Marx

Scott
has worked in the fire protection industry since 1980 and has held several
positions for Marx Bros Fire Extinguisher Co.
He spent ten years servicing fire suppression systems, five years
servicing fire extinguishers, six years in system sales and 10 years in
management. On the personal side, he has
been married for fifteen years and has three sons. He keeps busy traveling with
his wife and being involved with his kid’s sports, boating, and fishing.

WATER DISCHARGE TASK FORCE CREATES BMP MANUAL

darrell — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:25:35 +0000

The State Fire Marshal organized a Task Force made up of Fire Service, Industry, the California Water Boards , in cooperation with Division of Water Quality Storm Water Section along with members of her staff to develop a Best Management Practices Manual for dealing with the Water-Based fire protection system’s water discharge such as is associated with inspection, testing and maintenance. There has been an increasing awareness and concern over the last several years about the impact of the discharge of water from systems as it enters storm drainage systems. More controls and restrictions have made performing services difficult in many jurisdictions. The stated purpose of this task force was to “develop a set of Best Management Practices for Contractors State License Board licensed contractors, State Fire Marshal licensed companies and the fire service; to discharge water from a fire protection systems and to provide guidance regarding the practices to control possible contamination of California waters when maintaining fire suppression systems.” If you perform service on sprinkler systems this document is a must read. Click here to view the document.

NON UL300 NO INSURANCE $$$ !!!!!

darrell — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:09:52 +0000

Read all about it!

FEMA reports on a insurance company who refused to pay a claim because a Restaurant did not upgrade thier system to UL300. This is the second story we have heard where an insurance company refused to pay a claim because the building owner had not maintained or in this case did not upgrade their system in spite of a state requirement and repeated notifications from service companies. This may be worth while to show to Restaurants who still have not upgraded to UL300 Click here to read the buliten

NEW OSFM COMPLAINT FORM

darrell — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:05:35 +0000

The State Fire Marshal has developed a new complaint form to file a complaint against a Fire Extinguisher or Automatic Systems Licensed Concern as well as a Certificate of Registration (CofR) holder. This is an expanded form that provides more information to the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) which will aid them in their investigation. The form can be filled out on line but will then need to be printed, signed and sent to the OFSM. Complaints that are submitted from an end user or the fire service are better than complaints from a competitor company. If you encounter an end user or someone from the fire service that wants to lodge a complaint, give them this internet address to fill out the form. The link is: Click Here to view the form.

PINK ABC DRY CHEMICAL ???????

darrell — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:32:23 +0000

BE AWARE!!! There are some brands of extinguishers that are now using a PINK ABC dry chemical. Yellow is not mandated anywhere at this time and so they are NOT illegal. This will be surprise to anyone who discharges one of these extinguishers into a hopper. We do not have verified information yet as to the specific brands and models that use this agent. If you run into them please go to the Contact tab <Click Here> and send us the Brand, Model Number and Manufacturer Year, so we can post the information on the website.

5 YR SENTENCE

darrell — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:55:25 +0000

Danny Victor Williams of Camarillo owner of American Fire Protection was convicted and sentenced to five years in State Prision.
Click here for the CSLB Press Release on the Conviction
Click here for the Tulare Fire Department Press Release on the Sentencing

SB886

darrell — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:07:42 +0000

The latest “Sprinkler Fitter Bill”, SB886, was introduced on February 18th. Its language is almost identical to the wording as of the last revision of AB660. It still includes ALL Fire Suppression systems, not only wet sprinkler systems but also water spray, foam, carbon dioxide, dry chemical, wet chemical (HOOD SYSTEMS), halogenated and any other chemical system used for fire protection. After all of the CLAIMS, all of the HYBERBLY and FOUR plus years of attempting to get the bill passed, the proponents have yet to provide data that supports the need, NOT one verifiable case that would support the need for this COSTLY program. REMEMBER that the wording would require a “sprinkler fitter” certificate for performing all types of work on these systems to include, onsite layout and fabrication, testing, inspection, alteration or extension of the system and SERVICING, TESTING OR MAINTENANCE of the systems according to 13195. In other words if you install or perform service on any wet sprinkler, clean agent, kitchen, paint booth or similar system your SERVICE and install workers will have to obtain a State Fire Marshal Certificate that requires them to complete an 8,000 hour sprinkler fitter apprentiship program. While there is current language to petition the State Fire Marshal for a certificate for an existing employee based on 8,000 hours of verifiable experience, it will create a void of workers who service and install today that won’t qualify until they enroll and complete 8,000 hours in an approved sprinkler fitters apprentiship program. There will be escalated employee raiding along with the effects of supply and demand on salaries, in other words expect to have to pay more for the work with fewer “qualified” workers available and good luck holding on to your own. History with the Electricians Certification Program has shown this to be true. This bill will also have a major impact on the State Fire Marshal’s office, who can tell at this stage how this will affect the Fire Extinguisher Program, but it will affect it! Watch for articles in the CALAFE newsletter and CALSAFE Alerts to follow CALSAFE’s assessment of the impact this bill can have if passed. Also follow our opposition to it.
!!!!!!!!LATEST NEWSFLASH!!!!!
We have been told that the bill has been made into a two year bill which extends the fight into 2012!!!!!!!!!!!