Fire suppression

[btupper]

Hi, @petertitcomb!

@btupper spoke with Fire Chief MM

fire blankets like extinguishers need regular inspection, degrade over time, not high value and rarely used

K-extinguisher (silver) in kitchen highly recommended

open flames (candles) probably not legal, recommends battery operated

water extinguisher is OK, but better to use finger to make mist if covering person

chemical extingisher on person is OK, but more effective is solution stop, drop and roll

[btupper]

Here's the only mention of candles in Maine fire code https://up.codes/viewer/maine/nfpa-1-2018/chapter/10/general-safety-requirements#10.10

[petertitcomb]

Good information from fire Chief. Is there a way to make our candles much safer? Should we have a serious discussion of battery candles (instead of providing ways to extinguish fires caused by our candles)?

[btupper]

Battery candles is what he pushed. He acknowledges that candles happen at churches, but his view is it an easy way to reduce risk. I was surprised by how down he was on fire blankets - "waste of money". But I am not as sure about that. Not every person will be good at stop-drop-roll.

(Now, if we can just keep the batteries from going boom!)

[btupper]

We have a contact, Mike Major, at Cunningham Security. He did a walk through the church with, JA, PT and BT and promised a forthcoming estimate. Months and texts later - nada. Sent another text on 2024-09-15

[petertitcomb]

2024-10-03 I sent a text to Mike Major to re-invite him to offer a time visit to re-review our needs.

[petertitcomb]

On Oct. 23, 2024, we received an estimate from Cunningham Security (Mike Major and Josh Waite) for upgrading our existing fire protection system components in the Wing and adding new coverage for the Sanctuary and Gathering Room. The Wing system was installed in 1995 and is now obsolete. The upgrade was currently estimated to cost approximately $25,000 to install and $55/mo. for monitoring service.

[btupper]

2024-10-Cuningham_quote.pdf