Newsletter
The National Fire Protection Association website has some very useful information on it, some of which can be disturbing at times. According to statistics posted there, a trend can be seen for Major fires. Now this is how I read the statistics. I looked at three charts and they were:
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1. Major causes of Fire |
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2. Home Structure Fires |
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3. Structure Fires |
I focused on the Chart for Major Causes of Fires. The highest percentage was for Intentionally set fires, the second highest was cooking equipment fires, and third one was for Electrical Distribution or Lighting equipment fires. A comparison is below.
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25,100 Intentionally Set fires with 40 deaths, 300 injuries and $872,000,00.00 in damages |
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19,100 Cooking equipment fires with 10 deaths, 320 injuries and $126,000,000.00 in damages |
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13,200 Electrical fires with 20 deaths, 250 injuries and $399,000,000.00 in damages |
We at PCI, LLC can’t control the intentionally set fires, however we can and do have an impact on the other two. All of our IR technicians are electricians trained to be Thermographers. I tell everyone when I conduct a training class: “I can teach an electrician to be a good Thermographer, but I can’t teach a Thermographer to be a good electrician.” Experience is the best teacher. Therefore when we perform an IR survey of your facility, you not only get a licensed electrician, but you also get assurance that the images of your equipment are being interpreted properly. For example, there may be an elevated temperature in a panel on only one breaker. To the untrained, they may capture this and state that there is only a Hot Spot. We inspect and test further to identify if this is the only breaker with a load, using an amp meter to determine if there is in fact a problem. We are also qualified to remove panel covers to expose energized electrical and follow all project safety guidelines, along with OSHA rules and regulations, comply with NFPA 70E “Hazard Risk Category Classification” for ARC flash protection as well as our own PCI safety rules. As an added cost benefit for our clients, at the completion of every inspection, we provide you with our standard report of any OSHA and NEC violations of issues we feel are important to you the client. Your completed report could show items such as: panel/equipment obstructions, missing panel covers, splices not protected and etc. Each and every report is reviewed by myself prior to being issued.
So for your next IR inspection, give us a call and we will provide a true and accurate inspection of your facility. We are known and respected for our thorough and accurate inspections and reporting system.
All of our testing is non-contact, non-destructive, non-invasive and therefore environmentally friendly, as we don’t destroy or require materials to complete our task.