APi NSG Newsletter | Spring 2018

industry updates

New York city apartment fire closing a door could have saved lives what happened

An apartment was set ablaze earlier this year as a result of a young boy playing with the stove. Although most were able to escape and be rescued from the fire, 12 people were not so lucky. Devastating fires like these are both shocking and terrifying because of how little time residents have to find an escape. The time for escape could have been significantly increased if the apartment door where the fire originated had been shut upon exit. By leaving the door open, the fire was able to reach more oxygen, allowing the flames to spread quickly up and throughout the stairway which acted as a chimney. This is a tragic reminder of how important it is to close doors in the event of a fire. It is recommended to sleep with all doors closed in your home to prevent the spread of a fire if one should start in your home. Firefighters at the scene of the fire were also not able to confirm that all smoke detectors were working properly in the apartment building. Making sure detectors are operating correctly is an incredibly important and simple task. They should be tested at least once a month and batteries should be replaced at least once or twice a year. Click here for the full article.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/28/us/bronx-fire/index.html

Tax reform INcentives for sprinkler installation what you need to know There is much excitement around the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as it now provides incentives for fire sprinkler installation. Thanks to this act, small businesses are able to expense building improvement purchases related to fire protection systems up to $1 million in each year of the expense. Furthermore, the installation of sprinklers in commercial and other large buildings can be fully expensed until 2022. However, the reform does not offer incentives for sprinklers in one and two family homes. In case this incentive isn’t encouraging enough, here’s a statistic, according to the NFPA website the civilian fire death rate per 1,000 reported fires was 87% lower in properties with fire sprinklers installed than in those with no automatic extinguishing system. For more information, check out this article.

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