Recent Updates

93% of fires were extinguished by Portable Fire Extinguishers in 2021

April 19, 2022 by FASS

A recent article released by the Fire Industry Association (FIA) underlines the importance of fire extinguishers in commercial and public buildings and the need for fully working and most importantly, commissioned extinguishers, to be available.

Following a survey commissioned by the FIA in 2003, 2008 and then most recently in 2021, some key trends have emerged and most importantly the number of fires being successfully extinguished by portable extinguishers has increased from 80% in 2003 to 93% in 2021.

Apart from the obvious danger to life posed by a fire, its effect on a business can be devastating, possibly leading to the closure of a business. Having portable fire extinguishers available makes it possible to quickly react to a fire and extinguish it before it becomes a serious threat.

One important factor we at FASS can not stress enough. If you own a commercial or public building, you should have your fire extinguishers commissioned by an approved, professional company such as ourselves. Buying cheaper extinguishers online means they will be unchecked for safety and suitability, MOST IMPORTANTLY – not commissioned, which will almost certainly invalidate your insurance.

We are able to supply high quality fire extinguishers in a range of finishes that will be fully commissioned and ready for use. In addition, we will price match any other companies fully commissioned extinguisher on a like-for-like bases (i.e. size and extinguishant media).

We are happy to advise you of the correct extinguisher or carry out a full fire safety survey of your site. Our technicians are all salaried and not on commission, therefor the advice they provide is the correct advice for your circumstances, not influenced by sales targets or commissions.

The 2006 Fire Safety Order made fire legislation easier for employers to understand what they need to do to comply. The installation standard (BS5306-8) has been revised twice. One of the main improvements has been to make sure the most suitable extinguisher is the nearest one to any known hazard e.g. a Wet Chemical extinguisher (most suitable for cooking oil/fat fires) in or near kitchens; a Carbon Dioxide or Powder extinguisher (most suitable for petrol fires) in motor garages or a water-based extinguisher (most suitable for cardboard and clothing fires) in office/retail environments.

The way to use an extinguisher has become more uniform and is intuitive. Whilst training the use of extinguishers is essential, they are very simple to operate and easy to use. These factors combined have significantly improved the reaction time and chance of quickly extinguishing a fire before it spreads.

FASS are able to supply and commission a full range of fire extinguishers, in addition we can carry out a full fire safety survey or even provide staff training courses on the correct use of an extinguisher. For further information, please contact us, we would be happy to help.

Lithium Ion Batteries – 5 Largest Fires To Date

April 4, 2022 by FASS

At FASS, we have covered in a couple of news updates the dangers of lithium batteries in terms of a fire and/or explosion risk if they are not stored correctly, or protected from impact and damage or used in inferior quality items. The resulting fire can be truly catastrophic even from a relatively small battery.

Our attention was drawn to a recent article posted by ERI online which looks at the other end of the scale, the 5 largest known Lithium Battery fires in the USA to date (March 2022) which really illustrates the intensity and destructive power caused by these fires.

It is therefor extremely important to follow these key steps:

Only buy devices from an authorised or legitimate dealer, do not be tempted by inferior replica products that may be cheaper
Always follow correct usage and storage guidance for Lithium Batteries
In Public buildings, offices, care homes, schools etc it is always good practice to ensure you have the correct extinguisher medium (i.e. NOT water for lithium batteries!) available for the devices you have. FASS are happy to advise you of this
When your device or battery reaches the end of it’s life, always recycle the Lithium Ion Batteries responsibly. Check with your local authority for the location of suitable recycling facilities

Here are the 5 largest Lithium Ion Battery fires in the USA to date as listed by ERI Online:

Royal Waste Services in Jamaica, New York

One of the biggest fires ever was a five-alarm fire in Jamaica, New York. A lithium-ion battery sparked a blaze that brought much of the Long Island Rail Road system to a halt for ten hours. Clouds of black smoke overtook the region as hundreds of firefighters battled the fire.

What caused the plant’s fire? It turned out that a single lithium-ion battery sparked trash, piles of paper, and cardboard recycling, and wind gusts of up to 37 mph added to the problems firefighters faced. It took close to a full day to extinguish the fire. Power lines that were affected by the fire had to be replaced.

Superior Battery in Morris, Illinois

An abandoned paper mill in Morris, Illinois, caught fire in 2021, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes. The owner of the building was storing lithium batteries he planned to use to start a solar power company called Superior Battery. It’s believed that water leaking in from the roof, sparked a battery to ignite, and things steamrolled from there.

More than 200,000 lithium batteries were in the building, creating a chain reaction of battery explosions that added to the initial battery fire. City officials and firefighters were unaware lithium ion batteries were stored in the building, so they first battled the fire with water, which is dangerous and made things worse.

Because water is ineffective for putting out large-scale lithium ion battery fires, over 1,000 pounds of a dry chemical known as Purple-K was used, but that didn’t help extinguish the growing fire. Instead, dry cement was pumped in to cover the burning batteries to a depth of three feet.

Governor Pritzker was forced to declare a disaster due to this fire. The building’s owner hadn’t yet notified the city of the batteries in the building, nor had he filed business permits. Plus, he didn’t have insurance putting the responsibility of the cost of putting out the fire and evacuations on the taxpayers’ shoulders. In August, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Superior Battery hoping to get some money to lower the burden on taxpayers.

Felicity Ace Burns in the Atlantic Ocean

In February 2022, a ship sailing from Germany to the USA caught fire. On that ship were around 4,000 vehicles from Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Volkswagen. While the cause of the fire is yet unknown, many of the cars onboard were EVs, and their lithium-ion batteries posed a threat for reignition. All crew escaped the ship and reported that the smoke was coming from burning vehicles, raising questions if an EV car’s battery sparked the blaze.

Crews fought the blaze for weeks before the ship sank off the coast of the Portuguese Azores in what is essentially no man’s land. Despite the ship’s final resting spot sitting outside of Portugal’s jurisdiction, the Portuguese military has been monitoring the ocean for pollution as the thousands of vehicles had more than 4,000 tons of fuel and oil combined.

Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos, California

A four-alarm fire broke out at South Bayside Waste Management Authority’s Shoreway Environmental Center back in 2016. It took 79 firefighters several hours to put the fire out. A few days later, a second fire occurred. No one was injured in either blaze, but the facility did experience water and smoke damage that took three months to correct and kept the facility from being able to operate as normal.

During that time, some of the workers had to be laid off for a few months . Insurance rates for the facility drastically increased, driving up prices for area residents. One thing the facility’s general manager made clear after is that area residents need to be very careful when it comes to recycling. Batteries cannot go into trash or recycling bins. When consumers do this, a small amount of damage is all it takes for a lithium battery to explode and start a fire.

Vistra Energy’s Facility in Moss Landing, California

Vistra Energy is the world’s largest battery storage facility for storing solar and wind energy. The risk of combustion from overheating is higher, especially if the batteries are damaged in some way. This is exactly what happened at Vistra Energy. While systems prevented the battery storage facility from going up in flames, the fact that even a few packs melted is concerning.

Back in September, the 300 megawatt facility shut down when several overheating battery packs melted and triggered the fire suppression system to kick in. About 7,000 batteries were soaked by the system and damaged in the process. The company shut down the 300 megawatt facility, but a smaller 100 megawatt facility was still in operation at the site.

On February 13th, that smaller facility experienced a second incident. Again, it’s believed that water hoses leaked and damaged some of the facility’s battery packs. It was especially concerning as the company was about to reopen the 300 megawatt facility. Those plans have since been scrapped until the facility can figure out how to prevent additional meltdowns if there are hose leaks. While the fire suppression system worked effectively both times, there are fears about what could happen if the systems failed and hundreds of these batteries exploded.

For further information on the correct extinguishers for Lithium Ion Batteries or advice on your Fire and Safety needs, please contact us.

Amazon delivery drone crash causes acres-wide fire in the USA

March 28, 2022 by FASS

A recent Business Insider report has brought to the wider Worlds attention an incident where an experimental Amazon Prime Air drone set several acres of a wheat alight after crashing in eastern Oregon during a test flight last summer.

Details contained within the June 2021 FAA report seen by the publication, describes how the Amazon delivery drone prototype (Model MK27) was flying at an altitude of 160 feet before it suffered motor failure and crashed to the ground. The drone was seen “tumbling in uncontrolled free fall until it contacted the ground,” following which an “intense lithium battery fire quickly consumed the aircraft.” which then resulted in the field fire.

This is not the first incident Amazon have experienced with drones suffering failure, only a few weeks prior to this incident another delivery drone prototype crashed due to propeller failure although fortunately it did not result in a lithium battery fire.

Whilst the purpose of development is to push the drones to the outer limits to understand the operational boundaries, this does also highlight the inherent risk of lithium batteries dropping from altitude at speed and the potential for a fire on impact. This is true of all drones and something operators of drones should be mindful of.

Letting Agents Multiple Fire Risk Failures – A Costly Mistake

December 13, 2021 by FASS

At FASS we often witness first hand Fire Safety Risks due to landlords or letting agents not being fully aware of their legal obligations with regards to Fire Safety Regulations. Thankfully these are often corrected as part of a Risk Assessment carried out by FASS. However we were interested to read an industry article that highlights the sadly not uncommon situation where despite receiving advice and guidance, a landlord or letting agent chooses to ignore this, and the potential life threatening consequences, by continuing to cut costs with fire safety measures and not fulfilling their legal obligation.

Article courtesy of Warren Spencer via Letting Agent Today

Agency must pay £80,000 after multiple fire risk failures

A London property managing agent has been ordered to pay more than £80,000 for safety failings which “exposed a potentially large number of people to risk of death or serious injury from fire”.

London Fire Brigade inspectors found serious fire safety defects during two visits to a five-storey building in Islington which is managed by Eurolets (UK) Limited.

An Enforcement Notice requiring the company to address the concerns was issued following a visit in 2016, which was subsequently sufficiently complied with. However, a later visit then found similar defects to the previous inspection.

The building consists of more than 40 self-contained flats let out to tenants and the inspections revealed deficiencies including combustible material near the entrance to the premises; lack of fire extinguishers and signage; doors wedged open; holes within the walls and a non-functioning fire alarm.

Eurolets was charged with 10 separate offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and the company entered guilty pleas to all charges.

The judge at Westminster Magistrates Court found that the company fell far short of the appropriate standards and there was serious and/or systemic failure within the organisation to address risks.

London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, Paul Jennings, says: “The combined effect of the deficiencies was that if a fire had started, there was a risk of an uncontrolled spread of heat, and smoke and flames affecting the whole premises, coupled with the only means of escape being overcome with smoke.

“In sentencing, the judge made it clear that she increased the fine because of the large number of residents that had been put at risk by the company’s lack of action to address concerns.

“We are pleased with the outcome of this case, which is thanks to the hard work which is done every day by our fire safety inspectors. It should also serve as a warning to property managers that we will take action where people are not taking their responsibilities seriously.

“There’s no excuse for leaving people’s safety to chance, especially when information is so readily available to those with responsibility for safety in buildings to understand what their duties are and ensure they comply with the law.”

Eurolets was charged with these offences and entered a guilty plea to all of them:

Failure to take general fire precautions;
Failure to have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment;
Failure to ensure appropriate fire arrangements;
Failure to ensure exit routes were clear and unlocked;
Failure to ensure appropriate fire safety measures in place and conveyed to employees and residents;
Failure to maintain and ensure fire safety equipment;
Failure to provide employees with sufficient fire safety information;
Failure to provide adequate safety training;
Failure to ensure adequate structural compartmentation;
A further charge in respect of combustible items in the second inspection.

Eurolets was ordered to pay a fine of £60,000 on the first charge with no separate penalties for the remaining charges, a victim surcharge of £170 and costs of £20,000.

The total of £80,170 is to be paid over 10 months at a rate of £8,000 a month.

The Hidden Electrical Fire Risk As We Approach Christmas

November 28, 2021 by FASS

With the recent Black Friday sales and as we head towards Christmas, a large number of us will be treating ourselves or family to new electrical devices and items. From tablets and phones, to new lights for the Christmas tree, this time of year see’s a surge in electrical purchases.

At FASS we would like to take this opportunity to urge people to only purchase official, licensed or reputable brands rather than being tempted by cheaper alternatives that are so readily available online. Often these products are made to lower standards and do not meet the safety levels required, potentially leading to malfunction and fire in your home.

One such incident happened recently in Darlignton (as reported in The Northern Echo), where an unofficial iPhone charger exploded, setting light to a mattress in a teenagers bedroom. Fortunately no-one was injured, but the house has suffered extensive damage and life-long possessions have been lost.

It is simply not worth the risk to purchase unofficial items and we would always encourage everyone to only buy official, licensed products from reputable retailers.
For our commercial clients we are able to provide Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) to ensure that electrical devices are safe to use. In addition we also provide Dry Powder Fire Extinguishers which are extremely effective on electrical fires. For further information, please contact us.

Poppy Appeal 2021 – A Century of Support

November 2, 2021 by FASS

At Fire and Safety Solutions (FASS) we are always keen to give a little back to the community by supporting a number of charities, both nationally and locally, particularly those supporting the armed forces.

FASS has for many years supported the Royal British Legion and with remembrance Sunday taking place on November the 14^th, we would like to take this opportunity to reach out to our clients who have not donated to the RBL Poppy Appeal 2021 yet, to consider doing so and join us in our support of the excellent work the RBL do.

Please donate by following the link below:

https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/poppy-appeal

In this, the RBL century year since it’s founding, the work they do providing life-long support to ex-service personnel and their families is every bit as important now as it ever was. It is not just those personnel who are injured or traumatised by experiences, but a whole spectrum services available to all ex-forces. From advice and guidance, rehabilitation and recovery right through to transitioning and adjusting to civilian life, the RBL are there at every step and will continue to do so for life.

So please join us in pledging your support to the Poppy Appeal, buy and wear your poppy with pride, not only in remembrance of the brave who sacrificed and lost so much for us all, but also for those who are still with us who continue to need the support and expertise the RLB can provide. Thank-you.