False Alarms – The True Story and How to Prevent Them

           Most people have very little experience when it comes to understanding the finer points of security and fire alarm technology. In fact, most of the people in a sales capacity in the security industry have any installation, or true security and life safety system technology awareness. Because of this, more often than not the provider companies of these systems are able to get away with poor system design, very cheap products, shoddy installation workmanship and sub-standard monitoring services. After all, who would know the difference? I am regularly saddened by the systems I see being

Fire Equals Toxic Gasses; Toxic Gasses Equal...

Fire is a chemical chain reaction.  It is the transformation of a “Fuel’s” heat released gasses in combination with oxygen while being in the presence of a heat source; resulting in ignition. Bear in mind that the air we breathe is 21% oxygen. Consequently  keeping the air out causes the fire to die. Fire causes the rapid reorganization of the chemical compounds that comprise the fuel, hence transforming the original chemical compounds into entirely different chemical compounds.  These new chemical compounds are

What Makes a Complete Fire Alarm System?

Fire alarms are a life safety system first, a property protection system second, and lastly a business continuity and risk mitigation strategy.  In most built environments, fire alarm systems are required by code. The basis for the extent of the required fire alarm systems comes from either the NFPA Life Safety Code NFPA 101, or from the International Code Council's International Fire Code.The majority of installation protocols are prescribed in NFPA 70 - The National Electrical Code, and NFPA 72 - The National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.

As a life safety system a "fire alarm" may contain

The Ultimate Challenge for a Fire Protection Engineer

The ultimate challenge for a Fire Protection Engineer is nuclear power plants. When in 100 years we actually know the combined clean-up costs for Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, which we will all pay for in very real dollars – One trillion for my example. We can then amortize that cost over the some three hundred commercial, land based nuclear power plants in the world. Therefore in addition to the extremely expensive construction and ultimate “decommissioning” costs for each nuclear power plant, you could then conceivably add another three billion three hundred million to the cost per plant.

From a basic wall-street economic perspective: is nuclear power worth its true cost? I would suggest this questions needs extensive public debate. And, is the extra expense spent on exceeding the minimums that are

Greetings and Salutations

Greetings to my business associates, friends and family, this is my first official Blog. I am starting this blog on April 8th 2014 with the launch of the new Lexco Security Systems web site and associated social media outlets. I am calling it “Life Safety 101” or “Moving the Project Forward” for several reasons: the first is to encourage everyone to return to the basics when it comes to protecting life, property and business. The second is to encourage building owners to comply at more than the minimum with respect to the prescribed codes developed to set those minimum benchmarks. Lastly to share quality information and ideas to help other people and societies navigate this life challenging world we live in.

These are my thoughts, sentiments, observations and suggestions expressed for your comments in the same way. I wish to