What an Auto Mechanic Should Know About Fire Suppression

Auto mechanics understand that fires involving automobiles, fuel, oil, and other hazardous materials can get serious quickly. This makes the fire suppression puzzle about much more than simply protecting the shop or building in which the auto repairs are taking place: it also means ensuring that a fire isn’t allowed to develop into a blazing inferno. Following the infamous ValuJet tragedy, Cease Fire LLC was recently asked to be the only private company to testify in front of the U.S. Congress regarding the future of aviation fire suppression technology, and much of what was discussed relates directly to the fire suppression policies of the automobile industry.

The fact is, sprinkler systems alone do not provide the type of fire protection that auto repair shops, mechanical buildings, and factories need. Water-based fire protection systems are excellent for protecting overall building integrity and safety for personnel, but sometimes a gentler touch is required. Dry chemical fire suppression systems are that gentle touch, providing amazing knock-down power without running the risk of water and/or steam damage to valuable equipment, as well as being able to extinguish a chemical or electrical fire that would only be made worse by water.

Contained within Cease Fire’s modular fire suppression units, such as the newest, the CFF-800, is an extremely effective dual-agent surfactant that works rapidly and effectively. This dual-agent is comprised of DuPont’s FE-227 gas, the new Halon-replacement gas of choice, and Cease Fire’s own ABC powder, CF33, a non-toxic powder used to prevent re-ignition once the FE-227 gas has extinguished the fire. The two, when combined, create a gel that is unbeatable as far as safe, non-toxic, non-corrosive fire suppression is concerned. All without the potential danger of water being introduced into the automobile shop’s electrical systems and fluids.

Cease Fire has been proven to be effective in so many applications. Facilities as important and varied as museums, factories, government buildings, and companies as esteemed as O’Hare International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), LTV Steel, the U.S. Government, Chicago Transit Authority, London Underground, Navistar, Honeywell, and Intel all rely on Cease Fire fire suppression technology to keep their valuable yet vulnerable equipment and records safe and undamaged.

You’ll find that dry chemical fire suppression systems are a non-negotiable when you’re planning the safety of your auto mechanic shop. As a redundant system, the dry chemical units can often respond more quickly than the sprinkler system and eliminate the need for the sprinkler system to even discharge. Additionally, installing a dry chemical fire suppression system like the CFF-800 units manufactured by Cease Fire is much simpler that it might seem. Zero remodeling is needed, since the CFF-800 fire suppression units are fully self-contained and require zero pipes and zero wires. Each unit can be independently mounted on the ceiling of the auto mechanic shop and networked together if required. No expensive, invasive renovation, only a simple screw-on mounting flange which also makes inspection and replacement turn-key.

It’s not common to find the answers to your fire suppression problems simple, and yet Cease Fire has managed to make affording, designing, installing, and maintaining your customized dry chemical fire suppression system as simple as you could hope for. Give us a call or send us an email and we’d be glad to get the process rolling to give your auto mechanic shop the fire protection it deserves.

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