Flexitec from Flameskill

Detailed below is one of the products/services provided by IFEDA member Flameskill, based over in Great Yarmouth, for more information please contact them on 01493-440464

Automatic Fire Extinguishing Equipment

What is Flexitec? Flexitec is a self seeking automatic fire extinguishing

system that requires no electrical power to operate. In the event of

a fire the tube will rupture at the hot spot and discharge the

extinguisher contents directly on to the source of the fire.

How it works Flexitec Systems uses a specialised polymer detection tube which is pressurised. The tube is routed through the compartment that needs protecting, secured in place with fixings, thus being right at the source of any fire. When a fire occurs and either touches the tubing or the heat is sufficiently high enough, the Flexitec tube wall softens and bursts at the hottest point allowing the extinguishing medium to extinguish the fire at source.

Advantages of Flexitec * Flexitec is simple and inexpensive to fit. * Flexitec does not rely on any electrical or moving parts * Extinguishes a fire at the source via the Flexitec tubing * Offers 24/7 protection. * Pressure switches can be fitted to automatically shut-down any machinery, systems or sound alarm. * Flexitec Systems are available in a variety of sizes ranging from 1kg to 6kg. * Different extinguishing mediums are available to suit the application.

Applications Flexitec systems can be used to protect many mirco-environments,

Electrical cabinets, Controls & CNC Machines Server cabinets, computers, welding machines, food industry

Vehicles/Boats Buses, trucks, emergency vehicles, marine craft, trains

Industrial Equipment Plant machinery, farming machinery, forklifts

Letter boxes Bins, safes, vending machines

IFEDA - Training courses Aprl/May

IFEDA training courses April/May

3 Day initial training course - fire extinguisher technician training - BAFE recognised.
Members £540-00 Non-Members £640-00

Course number 3.070.1 19/20/21st April, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire
Course number 3.071.1 17/18/19th May, 2011 at Fareham, Hampshire

1 day refresher course – fire extinguisher technician training – BAFE recognised (for holders of recognised certificates only).
Members £157-00 Non-Members £182-00

Course number R073.1 18th April, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire
Course number R074.1 16th May, 2011 at Fareham, Hampshire

N.B for companies remote from Fareham and Stockport it is possible to run refresher courses at your premises for a minimum number of technicians. Please contact Graham to discuss via the 01280 number below or by reply to this email.

Fire hose reel servicing course & examination
Members £255-00 Non-Members £285-00
Course number HR.019.1 24th June, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire
Course number HR.020.1 21st October, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire


Dry riser servicing course & examination
Members £305-00 Non-Members £355-00
Course number DR.02.1 17/18th May, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire FULLY BOOKED
Course number DR.03.1 12/13th July, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire
Course number DR.04.1 20/21st September, 2011 at Stockport, Cheshire
If you wish to book for any of the above please contact IFEDA on 02380 513326 or send an email info@ifeda.org

Fire Awareness: Train the Trainer course from IFEDA

Having installed the fire extinguishers are you able or confident enough to train and educate your customers’ staff via structured workshops? Could you run a fire warden training course? Would you like to add this to your portfolio of services and have another source of revenue? If so IFEDA is running the following comprehensive, 3 day course on Tuesday 24th – Thursday 25th May at Stockport, Cheshire.


Train the trainer : Fire awareness trainers course
This course is designed to provide persons responsible for, or who undertake fire awareness training with the knowledge, skills and confidence to undertake the task professionally.
The course is followed by a ‘closed-book’ examination, marked to test the student’s understanding and knowledge retention.

Successful candidates will be competent to:
• Design, plan and carry out basic fire awareness training
• Instruct their students in the theory of fire, its requirements, breakdown and prevention
• To instruct in the identification of portable fire extinguishers and demonstrate their use
• To advise on the requirements of basic fire legislation
• To inform and advise on emergency escape routes, exits, assembly and personnel control procedures that need to be established to
ensure orderly and safe evacuation in the event of fire
• To establish and maintain records necessary to comply with fire safety legislation
• To instruct individuals in respect of their responsibility and duty to keep themselves safe in respect of fire


Duration: 3 days
Held at the Stockport training centre
Course cost:
IFEDA Members £540.00 ex VAT
Non-members £640.00 ex VAT
Course includes:
The course fee includes all elements of tuition including the examination, a comprehensive manual, a certificate of competence
(for successful candidates), lunch and refreshments; but excludes accommodation and travel costs.
To book please contact Karen at the National Office on info@ifeda.org or via 02380 513326

Fined for burning trade waste

The owner of a Somerset garden centre has been ordered to pay more than £15,700 in fines and costs for illegally burning trade waste.
The case was brought by the Environment Agency. On 14 January 2010 two Environment Agency officers visited the Rocky Mountain Garden Centre in Masbury to investigate a report of illegal waste burning. They found no evidence of burning, but noticed there were very few waste collection facilities on site.
Following their visit the officers wrote to the owner, Terence Bailey, asking him to provide the Environment Agency with all the waste transfer notes for all waste removed from the garden centre for the preceding two years. This was to establish whether waste had been collected and disposed of correctly.
Mr Bailey replied saying that as a small business with an annual turnover of approximately £550,000 and producing around six tonnes of waste a year, he didn’t think he needed to keep waste transfer notes. He told the Agency he would “be clearing a lot off the site very shortly”.
It was pointed out to Mr Bailey that the Rocky Mountain Garden Centre was located in an extremely sensitive area for groundwater and any pollutants entering the ground could contaminate public water supplies.
On 27 January 2010 Agency officers returned to the site and inspected land opposite the garden centre, also owned by the defendant. They found a large pile of burnt waste covering an area of ground approximately 8m by 2.5m and some 2m high. Nearby was a pile of unburnt waste and three scrap vehicles. However, when officers returned a month later with officers from Mendip District Council they saw the pile of burnt waste had increased in size. The ash contained electrical appliances, burnt batteries, mouse poison, holly wreaths, a shop display unit, barbeque tools, garden tools plus some household waste and paperwork from the garden centre. Also visible were piles of scrap metal, plant pots and scrap cars including some buried in undergrowth.
Rebecca Bomers for the Environment Agency said:
“The illegal burning of commercial waste on this site posed a serious risk of contamination to soils and groundwater. The defendant continued to dispose of waste by burning despite being warned, on a number of occasions, that his actions were unlawful. The offences were deliberate and took place over a prolonged period of time. The defendant denied he was motivated by financial gain, although he would have saved a considerable amount of money in waste disposal costs.”
Appearing before Frome magistrates, Terence Bailey was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,713 costs after pleading guilty to four offences under the Environmental Protection Regulations 2007 and one under the Environmental Protection Act 1991 including depositing and disposing of waste at Rocky Mountain Nursery without a permit and transferring waste without waste transfer notes.

Product alert

IFEDA members should make sure they check their email in-boxes for a fire extinguisher product alert.

Latest breach of FSO - Landlord pays over £25K in fines and costs

Court case February 2011

A landlord has been ordered to pay £20,000 in fines after a fire caused his tenants to flee the property for their lives.
Hitesh Mashru pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Fire Safety Order last week (February) at Watford Magistrates Court.
He was also ordered to pay £7,394.58 in costs for the breaches, which took place at 39 High Street, Bushey. On the 24 April last year, six tenants were forced to escape the upstairs flats during an electrical fire which took 50 fire-fighters to extinguish. Investigations found the blaze was started by faulty electrics and that it was not connected with a Thai restaurant on the ground floor of the property.
Fire safety officers from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service found that the premises had a number of failures which put lives at risk including no fire detection or fire alarm, no fire doors, no emergency lighting and storage on escape routes.
Neither had Mr Mashru carried out a fire risk assessment, as required by the FSO.
Hertfordshire’s chief fire officer Roy Wilsher, said: “Where breaches of fire legislation are considered so serious that there is a risk of death or serious injury to people we can consider prosecution. “In this case, six people were extremely lucky to escape with their lives and we strongly urge that all landlords make sure their premises are safe from fire and are compliant with fire law. “With the 2012 Olympics approaching and the ever increasing numbers of shared accommodation and bed and breakfast type accommodation, the responsible person must consider fire precautions for the protection of life”. IFEDA urges all responsible persons to carry out a fire risk assessment as per the FSO legislation. If anyone feels that it is beyond their capability a number of IFEDA members as listed at http://www.ifeda.org/regions.htm will be only too willing to assist.

Hair straighteners - a fire waiting to happen?

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is reminding people to take extra care when using hair straighteners following a fire in Littlehampton.
The warning comes after firefighters were called to a house on Toddington Lane 2nd March following a blaze in an upstairs bedroom. The fire started after a girl left hair straighteners on her bed while she went into another room. When she returned, just a few minutes later, she was shocked to see her duvet alight. Luckily, she immediately raised the alarm and her quick acting grandfather managed to extinguish the blaze using a bucket of water before it could develop. Crew Commander at Littlehampton Fire Station, Alan Blair, said afterwards:"Thankfully, they have had a really lucky escape here. We are relieved that nobody has been hurt, because there was potential for this to have been a very serious incident. Hair straighteners have become increasingly popular over the last few years, particularly with teenagers, but they do carry a fire risk because they reach extremely high temperatures of around 220 degrees. They can also take a long time to cool down and if they are placed on a flamable surface like bedding then a fire can develop very quickly. Our advice would be to place straighteners on a hard heat resistant surface, even after you have unplugged them and don't leave them unattended while they are switched on." IFEDA notes that this incident highlights the need to install and regularly check fire alarms.