www.ushalonbank.com 1.800.433.1751 December 2013 - Vol 2, Issue 31

In This Issue

Tyco Announces the Aquisition of Westfire, Inc

DuPont to Divest Fluoroproducts Business

UTC Reorganizes

UL Extends Listing Services for Halon 1211 Fire Extinguishers

SimplexGrinnell Contract Could Generate up to $10M in Revenue in First Year

BTP on Track to Replace 1211 in Commercial Aviation

FSSA News

Whats Wrong With This Story?

Offices Evacuated in 'Dangerous' Halon Gas Leak

Did You Know?

Most Popular Stories from October 2013

The Air Up There: Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Clause

By John Demeter

In the spirit of the season, we bring you, without commercial interruption, a letter written by eight year old Virginia O'Hanlon to the New York Sun and the response to that letter printed in an editorial on September 21, 1897. The work of newsmen Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial. We hope you find in it, as we did, a bit of comfort and inspiration.

"Dear Editor:
I am eight years old.
Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, "if you see it in The Sun it's so.
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street"

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Tyco Announces the Aquisition of Westfire, Inc.

November 20, 2013
Security Systems News

SimplexGrinnell regional offices expect to pick up work previously subcontracted

By Tess Nacelewicz

NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland - The addition of Westfire to the Tyco family will complement and enhance SimplexGrinnell, another Tyco business, and bring it more customers and RMR opportunities, according to SimplexGrinnell officials.

"Where we [SimplexGrinnell] are strong, they [Westfire] are not. Where they're strong, we're not, so it's really a nice, additive, complementary partnership," Stan Klakulak, Simplex Grinnell regional manager for the Southwest and mountain regions, told Security Systems News.

Tyco announced the buy of the $80 million Westfire on Nov. 14. Westfire's five U.S. offices are concentrated in the Western states - in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Washington - and it also has operations in Chile and Peru. It provides special hazards suppression and detection applications in vertical markets such as mining and telecommunications, according to Tyco. Westfire's services include fire hazard analysis, system design, installation, maintenance and testing.

Click here to read the full article.

DuPont to Divest Fluoroproducts Business

On Thursday October 24th, DuPont announced it will execute the full separation of its Performance Chemicals segment, which includes the Titanium Technologies and Chemicals & Fluoroproducts businesses. This is the outcome of the strategic evaluation that was announced publicly on July 23rd. We greatly value our relationship with your company and we wanted to contact you directly about this announcement.

With the separation of these two business units into one new performance chemicals company, DuPont advances its ongoing strategic mission as a high growth science company focusing its integrated science to better serve agriculture and nutrition, industrial biosciences and selected advanced materials markets worldwide.

To read the full letter, click here.

UTC Reorganizes

October 22, 2013
Security Systems News

HARTFORD, Conn.-UTC has reorganized again, creating UTC Building & Industrial Systems by combining Otis Elevator Company and UTC Climate, Controls & Security, the company announced recently.

Geraud Darnis, most recently president and CEO of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, will serve as president and CEO of the new organization, according to the news release.

Click here to read the full article.

UL Extends Listing Services for Halon 1211 Fire Extinguishers

November 22, 2013

UL announces the extension of the withdrawal date for certifications of Halogenated Agent Fire Extinguishers under the categories of Liquefied Gas-type Extinguishers (GMBY), Liquefied Gas-type Marine Extinguishers (GPGZ), and Clean Agent Extinguishers, (GAOMC). All current products covered under these categories and manufactured in compliance with UL's requirements will continue to be authorized to bear the Listing Mark of Underwriters Laboratories Inc. and the Listing Mark of Underwriters Laboratories of Canada on the product until January 1, 2025.

Click here to read the full statement.

SimplexGrinnell Contract Could Generate up to $10M in Revenue in First Year

October 30, 2013
Security Systems News

By Tess Nacelewicz

NJPA contract gives 50,000 public entities easy access to SimplexGrinnell products; new service revenue expected to be 'significant'

WESTMINSTER, Mass. - More than 50,000 government, health care and educational entities now can obtain SimplexGrinnell products and services through a simplified procurement process, thanks to a new four-year contract the company has with the National Joint Powers Alliance.

The contract is expected to generate $8 million to $10 million in the first year for SimplexGrinnell and grow from there, said Jim Madson, VP of sales for SimplexGrinnell, a Tyco company based here. "It should be considerable," he told Security Systems News.

Read the full article here.

BTP on Track to Replace 1211 in Commercial Aviation

Presentation to: 7th Triennial Internatonal Aircraft Fire and Cabin Safety Research Conference

Bradford Colton
American Pacific Corp.
bcolton@apfc.com
December 5, 2013

Three halon 1211 alternatives are currently FAA and UL approved

HCFC Blend B
HFC-236fa
HFC-227ea

2-Bromo-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (2-BTP or BTP) in development

Boeing supporting research
SNAP application was expected earlier in the year

Just recently filed
Additional testing ongoing

See the full presentation here.

FSSA News

MURRAY NAMED NEW VICE CHAIR OF MANUFACTURERS DIVISION

The recently vacated Vice Chair of the Manufacturers Division has been filled. A vote was conducted by the Manufacturers Division and the results are in.

The FSSA would like to congratulate and welcome Kevin Murray of Siemens Industry to the Board of Directors serving as the Vice Chair of the Division.

FSSA ATTENDS SFPE CORPORATE 100

FSSA President, Dale Kent and his wife Jeannie attended the SFPE Corporate 100 Meeting and Reception in Austin, Texas on October 27th. FSSA is a current sponsor for the Corporate 100 Program and Kent represented the FSSA at the invitation-only reception.

The SFPE Corporate 100 Program was founded in 1976 to strengthen the relationship between industry and the fire protection engineering community. Membership in the program recognizes those who support the objectives of SFPE and have a genuine concern for the safety of life and property from fire.

FSSA 2014 ANNUAL FORUM

REGISTRATION IS OPEN

Over 100 people have registered for the FSSA 32nd Annual Forum. Don't miss this opportunity to join your peers on February 22 - 25, 2014 in San Diego, CA.

Educational sessions include: An End Users Perspective on the Clean Agent Fire Suppression Market in Data Centers, Petrochemical Operations, Clean Agent Reclamation and Recycling Updates, and a Combustible Metals Mini Symposium.

To register for the Forum, view the agenda or to make hotel reservations, please visit the Annual Forum page on the FSSA website.

FSSA TRAINING PROGRAM

The FSSA Training program is live! If you reserved a spot at the forum invoices were emailed in May. For questions regarding the training program or to reserve your space, please contact Vince Mullhausen at FSSA HQ.

Whats Wrong With This Story?

November 19, 2013
By Brett Bodner
Asbury Park Press

BRICK, NJ - A fire broke out in the fryer area of a Wendy's on Jack Martin Boulevard on Tuesday, police said.

The fire broke out in one of the fryers that had been worked on recently and it appears a malfunction in the unit may have caused the fire, Bureau Chief Kevin Batzel said.

The fire was extinguished by the halon system, which is a fire suppression system used in commercial establishments, Sgt. Henry Drew said. It uses water or a powder-based substance to put out the fire.

Employees attempted to put the fire out themselves before they activated the suppression system. Everyone then evacuated the restaurant and called 911, Batzel said.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Offices Evacuated in 'Dangerous' Halon Gas Leak

October 10, 2013

By Jennifer Morris

Fire crews made sure the office building in Guildford was "thoroughly ventilated" before anyone was allowed to return

A dangerous gas spread through an office block in Guildford, UK on Tuesday night, leading to its evacuation.

Around 100 people were told to leave the building, at 1-7 Stoke Road, after office staff detected a leak of halon gas.

Halon is a liquefied, compressed gas that stops the spread of fire by chemically disrupting combustion. As the gas is heavier than oxygen, it escaped the computer room it is supposed to 'protect' and sank through the building.

Around 80 people were evacuated from the scene by office staff before fire crews instructed a further 20 people to leave the premises when they arrived at around 5.40pm.

Ambulance crews also attended the scene and checked over a number of office workers as the building was vented with fans.

Steve Moran from Guildford fire station said: "It [halon gas] can be quite dangerous.

"We were thorough in making sure the place had been thoroughly ventilated."

Did You Know?

The latest ASTM Standard for Recycled Halon 1211 calls for a minimum purity level of 99.0%, a moisture content of no more than 20 parts per million, but eliminates the need to test for color.

The color requirement, a hold-over from a long-obsolete manufacturing specification, has been done away with. As the color of the agent is not a reliable indicator of purity and since color has no bearing on the firefighting effectiveness of the agent, retaining a color specification was viewed as an unnecessary impediment to safe distribution of the agent. Additionally, the ASTM standard conforms to the widely accepted ISO 7201-1 standard with regard to color.

Most Popular Stories from October 2013

These are the stories in our last issue that got the most clicks. If you haven't already, check them out!

If you have any questions, comments, would like to be featured in a future Halon Herald, or would like to be added to our mailing list for this newsletter, please contact Kari Buser at kbuser@ushalonbank.com.

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