Where is your fire extinguisher? Is it fully charged and ready in the event of an emergency? No matter where or how you live and work, the threat of fire is never far away. Fire can strike quickly, often without warning, leaving those in its path with little or no time to react safely.
That’s why it’s imperative to be prepared. Rob Dupuis of Fire- Alert in West Carleton is a firm believer in prevention. After serving customers at his gas station on March Road near Carp for nearly a quarter century, Rob has ventured into the fire safety business.
“Fire-Alert has been operating in the Ottawa area for many years and has a great reputation for servicing the fire safety needs of the community,” reflects Rob. “When the opportunity came to buy the franchise for West Carleton, I made the move.”
Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley officially opened its doors at 1445 Diamondview Rd., Carp, in September 2009. Since then Rob has been building a client base by offering professional on-site fire extinguisher servicing and recharging, suppression system testing, emergency lighting inspections and fire hose tests.
“Fire-Alert provides our customers with a full range of fire and safety services,” adds Rob. “With our fully qualified staff, you can be assured that you are receiving only the best, and most efficient service available.”
If you are a business owner, the fire code stipulates how many extinguishers you must have, their location and maintenance schedule. Unfortunately, private citizens are left to their own devices.
Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley can provide you with a highly qualified solution to meet any fire prevention requirement, commercial, industrial, farm or residential.
“One of the advantages of my service is that we’re completely
mobile. We bring it all right to your location.”
Rob says being mobile saves time and money for busy business owners
and offers a higher level of safety and security for residential
and farm customers.
“Most people don’t think of fire prevention until it’s too late.
For example, even if there is a fire extinguisher in a home, most
people have never learned how to operate it, or even where it
should be kept in the home.”
Rob points out that not knowing how to operate fire safety
equipment, or having it stored in a poorly accessible location, is
almost as bad as not having it at all.
“With the right type of fire extinguisher in hand, you can extinguish or contain a fire from becoming a major blaze. But to effectively fight a fire you have to have the right type of extinguisher readily available, and know how to use it properly.”
In a residence, most people keep the fire extinguisher out of
reach. It rarely gets inspected and probably has never been tested.
Even the best extinguishers should be serviced every six years and
have a total shelf life of 25 years.
“Failing to be properly prepared to extinguish a fire not only
reduces the chance of containing the blaze, but it can put you at
risk.”
Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley offers an inexpensive half-day course that teaches the use and handling of class “A • B • C” type fire extinguishers, plus all you need to know to be prepared:
Fire Safety Requirements
• Types of Fires
• Fire Extinguisher Ratings
• Types of Extinguishers
• Locating an Extinguisher in a building
• Parts of a fire extinguisher
• Labelling & Tagging
• Laws & requirements
Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley offers a full range of preventive maintenance. They can service and test commercial fire hoses, ensuring they are ready if the need arises.
“We use the most up-to-date test standards to help keep the
equipment in peak condition so that it can stand up to the abuse of
fire fighting. We test and inspect hoses to the most current NFPA
standards and current Fire Code rules.
“As equipment such as fire hoses age, it can degrade. Hydro-testing
and visual inspections are the best way to know if your equipment
is up to the job. Fire hoses require hydro testing when they have
been in service for five years, then every three years
afterward.”
Rob recommends that all public structures and multi-residential
buildings should have hoses inspected annually.
“Routine testing and certification gives you, your employees or
building occupants protection and peace-of-mind.”
And when products reach the end of their service life, you can
trust Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley to supply high quality
replacements.
“Our products are of the highest quality and surpass all
standards. Our extensive selection of First Aid supplies allows us
to provide our customers with the convenience of one source for all
of their medical and first aid needs.
In addition to selling both new and refurbished fire extinguishers,
Fire-Alert Ottawa Valley also has general safety equipment such as
extinguisher supports, fire hoses, emergency blankets, lights and
batteries.
“We’re prepared to make sure you’re ready,” says Rob.
