New Inspection, Testing & Maintenance Retrofit Trailer And Website Unveiled At NFPA 25 Summit

ORLAND PARK, Ill., Aug. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB) and the Illinois Fire Inspectors Association (IFIA) unveiled a new state-of-the-art Inspection, Testing and Maintenance (ITM) demonstration trailer at the NFPA 25 Summit in Addison last week. More than 210 attended the event to review the latest information about ITM for water based fire sprinkler systems. They included members of 90 different fire departments and 20 building departments throughout the state.

The trailer contains components including valves, pipes, pressure gauges and alarm switches for preaction and dry pipe fire sprinkler systems. The first of its kind in Illinois, the trailer will be used to train fire inspectors, building officials, and building owners and managers about ITM and other information required by Illinois state code and the International Fire Code. The demo trailer also includes a riser for an NFPA 13D home fire sprinkler system and an area where an actual sprinkler demonstration can be conducted. Products for the trailer were donated by Viking, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler, United States Alliance Fire Protection, and Apollo Valves.

According to Tom Lia, NIFSAB executive director, the new trailer will allow instructors to bring the systems to the class. "These two systems are what those involved with ITM need to see and understand. Prior to this, we'd have to conduct classes at a training facility or a building that may not have both systems. Seeing the real system is also more effective than diagrams, since it allows hands-on instruction for firefighters who will respond to fire calls in sprinkler-protected buildings," Lia said.

During the summit, experts presented information about NFPA 25, testing compliance, occupancy changes, liability and other product-related issues. The instructors included:

• James Lake, Director of Training, National Fire Sprinkler Association
• Gerald Schultz, P.E., Fire Protection International Consortium
• Mike Bosma, Executive Vice President, Viking SupplyNet 
• Mike Eisenhauer, Chicago Backflow Inc. / Backflow Solutions Inc. 
• Mike Toika, Fire Marshal, Addison Fire Protection District
• Richard Piccolo, CBO, B&F Construction Code Services
• Richard Ray, P.E., Cybor Fire Protection
• Robert Wetzel, Fire Safety Compliance Manager, Office of the State Fire Marshal

The new website FireSprinklerTesting.org was also announced. It includes details about NFPA 25, ICC requirements, NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, various sprinkler system types, backflow prevention, and other information and resources.

Links to photos:

Tom Lia, NIFSAB executive director shows one of the fire sprinkler systems in the new ITM trailer:
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More than 210 attended the Summit including members of 90 different fire departments and 20 building departments throughout the state.
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The new trailer includes fire sprinkler demonstration.
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The panel of experts answered questions about ITM at the Summit
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About the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)
NIFSAB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting progressive legislation, raising public awareness, and educating code officials and governmental policy makers by demonstrating the proven performance of fire sprinklers in saving both lives and property. For more info, visit www.firesprinklerassoc.org.

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SOURCE Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)