Fire training gets smarter and cleaner

FIRESAFETY in Australia will be given a boost when BullEx Digital Safety, manufacturer of smart extinguisher training products, will officially launch their fire extinguisher training solutions later this month in Perth at Fire Australia 2007 October 22 — 24 and at Safety Show Sydney in Sydney October 24 — 26.

A fire extinguisher in the hands of a trained individual is said to be 250% more effective, yet a surprisingly small number of people know how to properly operate an extinguisher.

It is estimated that only 1% of the population is actually trained to use these life saving devices. This, in part, can be blamed on the cost and hazards associated with the conventional fire extinguisher training methods which consist of discharging a live CO2 or dry-chemical extinguisher at a pan filled with burning diesel.

Using this old method, every trainee discharges approximately 1kg of chemical into the atmosphere. If all Australians were properly trained under this method, over 20 million kilograms of dry-chemical and 6 million litres of petrol would be required each year.

Through patented technology the company has developed a line of fire extinguisher training systems that provide realistic training while eliminating the need to discharge dry chemical or CO2 extinguishers, making

training cleaner and safer.

Advanced sensor technology determines where the trainee aims and sweeps training extinguishers which discharge only compressed air and water.

Clean burning propane flames respond automatically to the trainee’s actions to provide realistic and repeatable training with minimal environmental impact.

In addition to the propane based live-fire system, the company also offers digital fire simulators which utilise large LED panels to display interactive LED flames.

The HotShot system’s digital flames are “extinguished” with manufacturer’s compressed air and water training extinguishers, and the BullsEye™ system’s flames respond directly to BullEx’s laser driven extinguisher for training completely indoors.

The training systems were designed to train people in the competent use of all types of fire extinguishers, fighting all the common types of fires – class ‘A’, class ‘B’ and electrically charged.

Because the systems run on either compressed air and water or laser-driven training extinguishers, they eliminate the need for and cost of using chemical extinguisher mediums or fuel-filled burn pans.

Fire Australia 2007 and Sydney Safety Show signal the official launch of BullEx’s Australian division.

“The sensor-technology in the BullEx fire extinguisher training systems allows fire extinguisher training to take place quickly and easily while minimising both downtime and environmental impact,” commented BullEx CEO Ryan O’Donnell.

“This product will make fire extinguisher training more accessible, creating a higher level of preparedness in the event of an emergency.

BullEx CAO, who attended Melbourne University in the early 1990s, is excited to be returning to the country.

“Australia represents our first formal expansion outside of North America, and is an ideal location for us because of Australia’s highly sophisticated attention to both safety and environmental issues.”

BullEx CEO Ryan O’Donnell and CAO Simon Balint will be on-hand at Fire Australia and the Safety Show Sydney to perform live demonstrations and will welcome further discussion.

For more information email Chris Chester cchester@bullexsafety.com or Daryl Crosthwaite dcrosthwaite@bullexsafety.com.