Months after a factory collapse exposed industry conditions Seven people have been killed at a Bangladesh factory. Workers were making clothes for big labels including Next, Gap and H&M. Police have said that the fire was so severe that most of the bodies recovered were too badly burned to be identified. Fire-fighters fought through the night to douse the flames at the Aswad Knit Composite factory  on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka. The fire was eventually put out by early Wednesday but parts of the two-storey building were still smouldering. The factory fire comes around six months after a factory building collapse killed 1,100 people and exposed the harsh and often unsafe conditions in the industry. Workers said the fire, which broke out on Tuesday October 7th evening, appeared to have been started by a malfunctioning knitting machine which had caught fire on a number of previous occasions. Earlier police and fire officials said the blaze started in a boiler. Mohammad Abu Saan, a factory worker, said: "There have been quite a few small fires in the machine recently, but we managed to douse them. This time it was big."   Police Chief, Amir Hossain, said seven bodies had been recovered after a thorough search of the building. He said: "Two bodies have been identified and handed over to their relatives. Five other bodies were charred beyond recognition." Fire service Director, Mahbubur Rahman, said the blaze spread because emergency services took more than an hour to reach the site. He said: "There is no fire station within an 18 mile (30km) radius of the factory." Safety standards at Bangladesh’s garment factories have shocked the world in the past year. Fires such as this one are a reality for many factory workers. 

Report provides a comprehensive market and forecast analysis  The report "Fire protection systems market: Fire alarm, sensor, RFID, control panel, interface, modelling and simulation software, public alerts & warning, emergency lighting, secure communication, managed service – worldwide forecasts & analysis (2013 – 2018)", provides a comprehensive market and forecast analysis of the overall market, segmented by components, services, regions and verticals. The report covers all the major sub-segments of the fire protection systems market and provides the quantitative (market size and market growth) and qualitative (trends, analysis and insights) analysis for those segments. This comprehensive coverage of the fire protection systems market provides important inputs, such as drivers, restraints and opportunities in this market, profiles the major players in this market, maps the competitive landscape and provides the overall perspective on the fire protection systems market in the various verticals and regions. Early buyers will receive 10% customisation on this report. Fire protection systems market has gained traction in the recent years owing to the recent rise in accidents and the loss of assets, due to fire hazards. Alongside, demand for a comprehensive solution in fire protection is rising, leading to an increase in the global spending for fire protection systems. Technologies, such as human machine interface solutions, smart building, and wireless sensory networks, are making their launch in the fire protection systems market. New advanced sensors have been developed to give accurate data to the control units. Intelligent sensors have networking capabilities, wherein a group of sensors and detectors can communicate easily through control units, leading to more efficiency in the systems. Distant users can access these intelligent sensors by connecting through LAN/WAN networks. MarketsandMarkets has segmented the fire protection systems market by type of fire detection components: sensors and detectors, and radio frequency identification (RFID); by type of fire management components: Control panels, and interfaces; by type of fire analysis components: Fire mapping and analysis software, and fire modelling and simulation software; by type of fire response components: Emergency lighting, voice evacuation and public alerts, secure communication, and fire alarm devices; by type of services: Engineering services, installation and design, service and maintenance, and managed services; by verticals: Academia and institutional, BFSI, consumer goods and retail, energy and power, Government, healthcare, manufacturing, oil, gas and mining, and transportation and logistics; by regions: North America (NA), Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America (LA). MarketsandMarkets forecasts the fire protection systems market to grow from £21 billion in 2013 to £41 billion in 2018. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% during the forecast period. About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a global market research and consulting company based in the U.S. It publishes strategically analysed market research reports and serves as a business intelligence partner to Fortune 500 companies across the world. www.marketsandmarkets.com

Phoenix Fire Apparatus, South Carolina to become the newest Ferrara dealer Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., America’s premier custom fire apparatus manufacturer, has announced another major addition to its dealer network. Phoenix Fire Apparatus, LLC of Sumter, South Carolina has agreed to become the newest Ferrara dealer in the USA, covering all of South Carolina and north Georgia. Phoenix Fire Apparatus is led by company president and longtime Ferrara veteran, Kent Cummings. Ferrara Fire Apparatus Inc. President/CEO, Chris Ferrara, commented on Phoenix and Mr. Cummings: “We are extremely pleased to have Kent and his new company select Ferrara Fire Apparatus as the manufacturer they will represent in South Carolina and North Georgia. Kent has years and years of experience selling our product and we believe he will make an immediate impact for us.” Phoenix Fire Apparatus is completing a new service centre in Sumter, scheduled to open November 1st 2013. The 7500 square foot facility can accommodate up to eight fire trucks and also has 2000 square feet of office space. Phoenix has two EVT certified service technicians on staff to perform repairs and service in-house, as well as a complete inventory of parts and equipment. The company also provides road service with EVT certified technicians at fire departments’ locations. “I’m very excited to be part of the Ferrara team,” said Phoenix President, Kent Cummings. “We have in-house and mobile service capabilities in place so we can provide the excellent level of customer service expected of a top flight dealership. Also, we have the product offering and experience to make an immediate impact on our South Carolina and northern Georgia sales territories.” Ferrara Fire Apparatus manufactures a full line of fire, emergency and rescue vehicles. The company offers the Ultra, Inferno, Igniter, Ember and Intruder custom fire chassis. These, along with a wide selection of commercial chassis, are converted into pumpers, tankers, rear and mid-mount aerial ladders and platforms, rescues and incident command vehicles and high-flow industrial apparatus. A leading innovator in the industry, Ferrara takes pride in offering such firefighter safety items as the MVP Multi-Vocational Pumper, On-Site Tilt Table Testing, Cab and Body NFPA Compliant Crash Testing, Independent Front Suspension, Complete Airbag Protection, and SmartWheel steering systems. www.ferrarafire.com

The Cal Fire plane was damaged after battling a brush fire After a weekend of extreme fire danger, Californian state fire officials are assessing the hard landing of a fire-fighting airtanker. The airtanker was damaged attempting to land at the Hemet Ryan Air Attack Base after a brush fire in Riverside County, last Friday. The Grumman S-2T airtanker (one of 23 in the Cal Fire air fleet) was returning from a small wildfire in the community of Good Hope. There were no injuries but the runway at Hemet Ryan Airport was closed temporarily while the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the incident. "This serves as a stark reminder of the danger of our profession," said Chief Ken Pimlott, the Cal Fire Director, in a statement. "We must continue to keep public and firefighter safety a priority, especially during these Red Flag conditions." Fire-fighters were braced for extreme fire danger through the weekend as wind gusts peaked at 70 mph in Castaic, about 40 miles north of downtown LA. The National Weather Service extended “Red Flag Warnings” for LA and Orange counties into Sunday.  

Vehicles will have GPS-enabled wireless system installed The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) has announced plans to install wireless communication sets – enabled with GPS (global positioning system) – on its fire-fighting vehicles. At present, the KMC’s fire brigade department has six fire-fighting vehicles in various parts of the city and fire officials must communicate with each other through a hotline telephone. It is difficult to guide the vehicles to the site of the incident, since there is no proper communication between the control centre and fire personnel. The new systems will completely modernise communication methods. "There are six fire-fighting vehicles on which the GPS-enabled wireless communication sets will be installed. In case of an accident or a blaze, wherein people need to be attended immediately, the wireless communication sets on the vehicles will help find the location so that the nearest fire stations could be informed," said Prasad Sankpal, Disaster Management Officer in the KMC. The wireless sets will be connected to certified HAM radio operators. "At present, there are three HAM radio operators in the city. We take their help frequently in case of disasters. The wireless sets will be connected to HAM radios so as to reduce delays in action," he added. "In case of congested areas, it is difficult to find the exact location of the incident. In such cases, the GPS technology will help in guiding the firemen and reach the spots quickly," Sankpal said. In old city areas, entry for heavy vehicles can be challenging due to narrow lanes and damage can be severe due to congestion. The wireless sets will be procured through funds approved by the State Government. Funding forms part of its disaster management programme; earlier this year, the Government approved £50,000 to modernise the fire brigade department and set up a disaster management department.

Teaser: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Website: http://www.firedisasterasia.com.sg/

Teaser: Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre Website: http://www.fpaa.com.au/events/fire-australia.aspx

Teaser: Düsseldorf, Germany Website: http://www.aplusa-online.com/

Teaser: The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre Website: http://adipec.com

Teaser: Reno-Sparks Convention Centre Website: http://fireshowsreno.com/