Special Hazards Protection without Halons
GSI's Tom Wysocki, in cooperation with Taylor-Wagner Inc., Hughes Associates and Leber/Rubes, Inc. developed and presented a special hazards training course. The course emphasizes the changes in special hazards fire protection design required today. Restrictions on the production of fire fighting Halon agreed upon in the Montreal Protocol have forced a re-assessment of approaches to fire protection for many facilities.
The first presentation was in Caracas Venezuela. It was sponsored by UNEP and Environment Canada. The student body was composed of leaders in fire protection from Venezuelan government and industry. The petroleum industry, electric utilities, and construction sectors were among those participating.
The second course was in Anchorage, Alaska. Sponsored by British Petroleum and the Halon Alternative Research Consortium, this program focused on alternatives to Halon 1301 and the special problems associated with fire protection in the Arctic.
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During spring 1998, the group completed the third presentation of this course. This presentation was given at the Scientific and Research Center for Fire Protection (Centrum Naukowo Badawcze Ochrony Przeciwpoza -rowej) near Warsaw Poland. The student body was composed of leading Polish fire protection professionals. The course was presented using both English and Polish visual aids simultaneously. Two three day sessions were given.The presentations were enhanced by demonstrations of Halocarbon and Inert gas fire extinguishing agents on live fires in the CNBOP test facility. |
The time in Poland was especially significant for GSI's Tom Wysocki. Tom's ancestors are from Poland and he has relatives in Warsaw and Bialystok. Tom took the opportunity to visit many relatives. His cousin graduated from and later taught at the Main Fire School of Poland (Warsaw). One of the highlights of this trip was a visit to and personal tour of this world class institution. (See picture above.)
For more information on this and other training courses, contact Guardian Services, Inc.
