In the Fire Protection Industry, "no news is good news" is a typical sentiment. When a building is protected by properly installed monitoring and signaling devices, its occupants are none the wiser. If a fire occurs, flowswitches signal fire panels, which signal strobe lights and horns that warn occupants to evacuate, all while alerting the Fire Department. Everyone is safe with minimal damage to the property. It is only when things go wrong and people perish or lose property due to a lack of fire protection equipment that we hear about it. Obviously, it's important to address the times that things go wrong because it presents an opportunity to learn from mistakes. However, we feel that it is just as important to acknowledge the times that everything goes right in order to remind ourselves that what we do at Potter is vital when it comes to loss prevention.

Potter was recently informed by one of our dealers (Protection Professionals) of an apartment complex in Scarborough, Maine that was successfully protected from a fire by Potter equipment. The incident occurred on June 29th of this year. The fire started because smoldering cigarette ashes were discarded into a trash can. The tenant who threw away the ashes immediately left for work and the fire grew rapidly. At that point, a single sprinkler head was activated. A flowswitch signaled the Potter P400 fire alarm control panel to set off horn strobes and alert the Fire Department. Everything went smoothly.

Rich Brobst of Protection Professionals said,

“A fire is never something you hope for, but it’s nice to see that the Potter products we install have helped to save lives and property. Events like this are the exact reason it’s so important to us that each system be installed properly every time.”

This may seem like a simple success story, but the real success lies in the fact that the other 11 units and their occupants were properly notified by the system and left unharmed by flame or smoke. No lives were lost and no other property was damaged. Michael Thurlow, Scarborough’s Fire Chief said,

“There is no question that the system installed in this brand new apartment building saved lives and significantly reduced the property loss of not only the building owner, but every tenant who lives there.”

Accounts like this often go unheard, and we at Potter don't mind because "no news is good news." But every once in a while, it's nice to hear about the times that our products did their jobs and saved lives.