Category: Company News

The Importance of Fire Drills

Fire drills are an important part of your fire safety procedures for many reasons. Not only do they ensure that all staff, customers and visitors to your premises understand what they need to do if there is a fire, but they also help you to test how effective your fire evacuation plan is and to improve certain aspects of your fire provisions.

As well as testing that your fire alarms are working, carrying out a full fire drill will help you to check other equipment such as fire door retainers, which are usually released when a fire alarm sounds. You may wish to also check that your LED emergency lighting works effectively during the fire drill. If you have found that there are problems with your equipment, take immediate steps to replace it or get it fully checked out if it can be repaired. All of our essential fire safety equipment is covered by our free extended five year warranty and we also offer next day shipping to ensure that you get your new or replacement equipment as soon as possible.

Knowing how often to carry out a fire drill will depend on the level of risk that is present in your building, with a minimum of at least once a year. If you have customers on your premises, such as in a shop or restaurant, try and schedule your fire drill for when they are not present or at the least busy times of day, and always advise staff, neighbours and the fire service beforehand (if your alarm system is linked to the fire service).

Fire Extinguishers Explained

Fire safety training will give you and your employees information about fire protection equipment and when it should be used. One of the most important things to understand are the different fire extinguishers that are available, as using the wrong one could create just as many problems as the fire itself.

There are five different classes of fire risks: A, B, C, D, F. Each class describes a different kind of fire and the fire extinguisher will be clearly labelled with the risk classes they are able to fight. If you are buying fire extinguishers for your property, but are unsure which one you need to install in which areas, then our extinguisher guide should provide you with everything you need to know. Our friendly staff will also be more than happy to help.

Class A: solids such as paper and wood
Class B: liquid fires such as burning petrol (not fat)
Class C: gas fires
Class D: burning metal such as magnesium
Class F: fat fires and deep fat fryer fires

The classes stated on the extinguisher also have a number next to them. The higher the number, the better the fire fighting capability of the extinguisher in this class.

Water extinguishers (colour coded red) are the most widely used and are used on solids such as paper, wood or fabrics. They should not be used on electrical equipment unless they contain an additive. Offices and reception areas are usually equipped with foam extinguishers (cream colour coding) and CO2 extinguishers (colour coded black). CO2 extinguishers will not damage the electrical equipment.

If your building has a kitchen, this will need a wet chemical or an ABF fire extinguisher to deal with fat fires. Other areas with greater fire hazards, such as laboratories, may require powder (coded blue), metal or CO2 fire extinguishers as appropriate depending on the risks involved. Powder extinguishers can be used on solids, flammable liquids or gases.

Budget-Fire re-launches as specialist for Thomas Glover extinguishers

For a long time Thomas Glover Firepower extinguishers were just one of several extinguisher ranges sold on Budget-Fire. Since TG’s introduction of PowerX, a low cost family of extinguishers, the range of Thomas Glover extinguishers on our website justifies full focus on their two ranges. Thomas Glover (or short TG) is part of UTC, the same group of companies owning Chubb and Kidde. TG supplies mainly the extinguisher servicing trade, especially with the high end Firepower extinguisher range.

We guarantee to beat any online price for genuine Thomas Glover extinguishers, both for the PowerX and the Firepower range. And we offer free next day delivery if your order is over £70.00.

All our TG extinguishers are available either as a simple next day delivery or together with nationwide onsite commissioning by our BAFE certified extinguisher engineers. When buying the extinguishers just select your option when placing the items in the basket.

If you want to spread the costs of purchasing and installing extinguishers over a longer period, we also offer extinguisher contracts, which give you fixed yearly expenditures without nasty surprises and hidden charges.

If you are purchasing bulk volumes, please contact our friendly sales team and we will be happy to quote special prices. We also stock all spares required for TG extinguishers.

 

Jail sentance after waste disposal site fire burnt for a month

Roy Hinchcliffe, who ran a waste disposal site in Scout Hill, Dewsburry, has been jailed for two years.

Mr Hinchcliffe was found guilty of exceeding the storage limit of waste at the site and also for having two other sites where waste was being stored but that did not have a waste storage permit.

A notice had been served on the site at Scout Hill but just days after this the fire occurred.  Fire crews and an aerial appliance attended the blaze on a daily basis for the month’s duration. It is estimated that the total costs to tax payers was in the region of £1.2m.

 

Fast food restaurant fined £13,000 for Fire Safety legislation breaches

Delicious Foods Ltd, based in Eccles, Salford, have been fined a total of £13,000 for fire safety legislation breaches.

The company appeared in court on January 6 2012, and pleaded guilty to  a total of nine breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The restaurant, that also had living accommodation above the premises was found to have neglected its fire safety responsibilities.

The offences included not having undertaken an adequate fire risk assessment, failure to provide an adequate means of escape, failure to provide a fire warning system and fire fighting equipment. The only staircase from the upper floor lead into the commercial kitchen, should a fire have broken out in the kitchen the stairwell would have acted as a flue to draw toxic gas and smoke up to the upper floor. There was no emergency lighting and no working smoke alarms to alert occupants of the premises of a fire.

Fire extinguisher contracts launched

As always Budget-Fire are looking for ways to make the complex responsibility of fire safety easier for customers. The launch of our extinguisher rental and maintenance agreements will do just that.

The online system enables you to quickly select the extinguishers  you require and choose the length of the rental and maintenance agreement you wish to have. The system is very clear and will immediately calculate the yearly payments.

If you do not know what extinguishers you need you can just call our service team on 0800 088 7309 and they will arrange a FREE site survey for you.

When you use the online fire extinguisher selection tool to order your extinguishers our BAFE certified engineers will carry out a free site survey to ensure that you have adequate cover under the legislation that applies to your premises.

The cost of the service includes the extinguisher provision, all basic spare parts and all maintenance activities. It also includes the environmentally safe  disposal of the extinguishers at the end of the contract. Yearly Maintenance will take place without you having to remember. We will just contact you and agree a mutually convenient time.

The rental and maintenance contract can be cancelled at any time. The final value of the extinguisher would be charged to you in this case. We like to be so clear about all charges that we even display the potential cancellation charges as you are running through your order.

 

New Budget-Fire website

Our website has just received a facelift. The old site was starting to look a little tired and did not offer as many features, so we have created what is hopefully a more customer friendly site with more features. We have also given the extinguishers and fire safety products a bit more breathing space on the home page. Also, for the first time we are offering fire extinguisher contracts online. This is of course on top of the existing offer of fire extinguisher servicing on a as-you-need-it basis that has been available for a few years. The contract calculator is very easy to use and will give a very clear price for your fire extinguisher cover.

Gloucester restaurant owner fined for fire safety breaches

The owner of The Connoisseur Tandoori Restaurant, Abdul Hamid Choudhury, pleaded guilty to ten charges at Gloucester Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 were brought to the attention of the fire service whilst they attended a fire at the property in the accommodation that was situated above the restaurant in November 2009.

Mr Choudhury was fined £2,900 in addition to costs of £1,500 and a victim surcharge of £15. The offences for which he was found guilty ranged from a kitchen that was sited in an escape route, failure to have fire resistant doors installed and the failure to have smoke alarms fitted. It was also found that workers at the restaurant had not been given any fire safety training.

Red the full story: www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/safety-breaches/story-12811891-detail/story.html

Briton Door Closers

One of our key fire safety suppliers is Briton, a renowned manufacturer of quality door closers. The Briton overhead door closer range provides door closing solutions to suit all projects, door applications and budgets.  From the simplicity of a mechanical non-fire door closer for basic functionality, to a microprocessor controlled low energy operator for special applications e.g for doors required to satisfy Part M of the Building Regulations, there are Briton products to meet your needs.

The Briton 121CE compact overhead door closer is suitable for the most popular door sizes.  It has all the characteristics of performance, durability, functionality and quality that specifiers and users have come to expect from a Briton door control.

  • Low usage: 2,000 -15,000 cycles/a
  • Fixed strength size 3

The Briton 1100 series trimplate closers are designed to provide a mid-range product with choice of the most popular options, in a concise, cost effective package.

  • Medium usage: 5,000 -25,000 cycles/a
  • Adjustable strength sizes 2-4

The 2000 series offers adjustable and fixed power sizes providing a comprehensive package of solutions to suit the most popular door sizes.

The Briton 2003V was designed to help you meet the requirements of BS8300:2001 for DDA use, it has variable power allowing easy on-site adjustment to meet both access and fire requirements.  As well as making access easier for all users, it has all the benefits you have come to expect from the Briton 2003 – reliability, ease of installation and full certification.   Further enhancements have been made for this upgrade and the Briton 2003V features both adjustable back check and the award winning Accufit installation system as standard. A closer will only perform correctly if it is fitted correctly, so ensuring accurate installation is essential to meeting the requirements of any legislation.

  • High usage: 100,000 -1,500,000 cycles/a
  • Adjustable strength sizes 1-4

A recent addition to the range is the Briton 2700 series, a precision manufactured cam-action slide channel closer, in a compact, overhead, surface fixed unit. Providing exceptional ease of use by reducing the resistance encountered when opening the door, the Briton 2700 Series bridges the gap between the requirements for fire and smoke control and ease of operation required for accessibility.  As with the 2003V the 2700 door closer comes with the Accufit installation system to ensure correct fitting.

Briton Electromagnetic Door Controls

Linked to the building’s alarm system, electromagnetic door controls eliminate the illegal practice of wedging doors open.  This dangerous practice prevents a fire door functioning as it should in stopping the spread of flames and smoke in the event of a fire.

The Briton 996 Series is a range of fixed power closers with an integrated electromagnetic hold open mechanism. When connected to the building fire alarm or detection system each unit can be set to either ‘hold-open’ or ‘swing-free’ operation. In either case the power of the closer can be temporarily disabled to allow free passage. When de-activated, the electromagnet disengages and the door closer closes the door in the normal manner to maintain fire safety.

The new Briton 1130B.TE has been designed to hold the door open during normal use whilst connected to the building fire alarm or smoke detection system having an electromagnet in the slide track. On sounding of the fire alarm, or in the event of a power failure, the electromagnet will be deactivated and the door will close in the normal controlled manner.

Lorry blaze involves 24 tonnes of cheese

A lorry, traveling along the A359 in Somerset, caught fire last week causing the load of 24 tonnes of cheese to be lost in the blaze.

The fire is suspected to have been caused by a fault on the lorry. The driver was on his way to have the fault repaired at a garage at the time of the blaze.

Four fire crews attended the blaze and the A359 at Galhampton Hill was closed for several hours.

To read the full story