Likely to have been travelling too fast A commuter train at Chicago O’Hare International Airport has derailed, injuring 32 people, officials say. The train came off the tracks, crossed a platform and travelled part way up an escalator at one of the busiest airports in the US. None of the reported injuries are serious. A spokesman said the train was likely to have been travelling too fast when it crashed in the early hours of Monday. "I heard a boom and when I got off the train, the train was all the way up the escalator," passenger Denise Adams told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. Fire officials told the Chicago Tribune that six people were in fair condition and 26 in good condition as they were transported to hospital. Investigators are said to be reviewing security footage and interviewing CTA employees to determine the cause of the derailment. People posted images of the derailed CTA Blue Line train on social media.

At least eight killed by landslide  At least eight people have been killed by a huge landslide in the north-western US state of Washington. Rescuers pulled five bodies from the debris on Sunday, adding to three found on Saturday. Officials say there are still a number of people registered as missing, but search teams said they had not seen or heard any signs of survivors. The 54m (177ft) deep landslide destroyed 30 houses near the town of Oso, about 90km north of Seattle. Rescue teams have only just been able to properly search the site. It was deemed too dangerous to access the worst-affected areas on Saturday. An eyewitness told the Daily Herald that he was driving on the road and had to quickly brake to avoid the mudslide. "I just saw the darkness coming across the road. Everything was gone in three seconds,” Paulo Falcao told the newspaper. Robin Youngblood, another witness, told the Seattle Times: "All of a sudden there was a wall of mud. Then it hit and we were rolling. The house was in sticks. We were buried under things, and we dug ourselves out." Residents reported hearing cries from those trapped, but local fire chief Travis Hots said the dangerous conditions were hampering the rescue effort. Search-and-rescue help came from across the state, including the Washington State Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers. The landslide cut off the city of Darrington and clogged the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, prompting fears of severe flooding downstream if the build-up of water behind the debris breaks through suddenly. The authorities say the landslide was caused by recent heavy rain. More rain is expected in parts of Washington on Sunday, and some people have been advised to move to higher ground. The area has had problems in the past with unstable land. Source: bbc.co.uk

No victims, but production down considerably An oil tank exploded at a treatment plant run by state energy company YPF on Saturday, affecting more than 3 percent of the firm’s total output of crude but leaving no fatalities, the company said. YPF said its nearby Lujan de Cuyo refinery, which produces 106,000 barrels of oil per day, was drawing on oil from back-up deposits and operating normally. Local TV broadcast images of a large oil tank ablaze at the Cerro Divisadero treatment plant in the province of Mendoza, around 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southwest of Buenos Aires. The company said the fire and explosion affected the entire treatment complex, forcing the closure of ten deposits that produce 1,460 cubic meters (51,559 cubic feet) of crude per day. The treatment tanks at the plant produce 3.8 percent of YPF’s total output. "The fire started midday on Friday in one of the plant’s oil tanks," YPF said in a statement. "The company activated its contingency plan and told provincial and national authorities and is at this time working with them to control the situation." The plant was evacuated and 14 people received medical attention, YPF said. Six fire-fighting airplanes were dispatched to control the fire and make sure a nearby river was not polluted, YPF said. But nightfall would put the work of the planes on hold until Sunday morning, an official with the local government of Malargue said. Temperatures near the fire were too high to allow firemen to combat the blaze on foot. Meteorologists said strong winds were quickly spreading toxic smoke.

High lumen light delivers up to 3,600 Lumens Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting, will debut an industrial-duty, high lumen Portable Scene Light at Booth 2339 at FDIC 2014, April 10-12, at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN. Providing up to 3,600 lumens, the new light features a narrow footprint and a telescoping extension pole, enabling fire and rescue personnel to use it almost anywhere for scene lighting purposes, from wide, open places to tight, confined work areas.   The Portable Scene Light uses six C4® LEDs and wide-pattern parabolic reflectors to provide two selectable beam widths and three levels of light intensity, ranging from a super-bright flood beam to a low setting with ultra-long run times. The light features a rotating head that can be extended on a telescoping pole to an overall height of 72 inches, supported by stabilizing legs that can be quickly deployed and locked to provide balance on uneven surfaces. The light also features a 90 degree swivel neck, enabling users to aim the light beam precisely where it is needed for task lighting purposes.   “The Portable Scene Light is a completely portable high lumen flood light, giving firefighting personnel and other first responders an amazingly bright scene light that can be conveniently carried and rapidly deployed in less than 30 seconds,” said Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Sharrah. “It’s ideal for lighting everything from large-scale fires and accident scenes to illuminating small, narrow spaces in rescue operations. And with its long run times, it can be used throughout an entire work shift without having to recharge the battery.”   On the high setting, the light delivers an incredibly bright 3,600 lumens, 31,000 candela and a five-hour run time, over a beam distance of 352 meters. On medium, it provides 2,400 lumens, 20,000 candela and nine hours of run time and a beam distance of 283 meters. On low, the light runs for 18 hours and offers 1,100 lumens, 11,000 candela and a beam distance of 210 meters. A selectable diffuser permits users to choose between the two beam widths, which are available with all three lighting modes.   The Portable Scene Light is powered by a zero-maintenance 12 volt, 14.4 Ah sealed lead acid battery that is rechargeable up to 500 times. The light can be charged to 90 percent of its capacity in 10 hours. Red and green LEDs provide charge status feedback. The light also will run indefinitely by plugging the included remote 10-foot power cord into a DC power source; an AC adapter is also included. A toggle switch allows users to switch between the battery and power source modes of operation.   Constructed from high-impact thermoplastic housing, the Portable Scene Light offers weatherproof construction. The light measures 22 inches in length and 6.5 inches in width, and weighs 25 pounds. It packs to a compact size for easy storage.   Available in international safety yellow, the light comes with a shoulder carrying strap and Streamlight’s Limited Lifetime Warranty. The MSRP is $999.00.   Based in Eagleville, PA, Streamlight, Inc. recently marked 40 years of making tough, durable, long-lasting flashlights designed to serve the specialized needs of professionals and consumers alike. Since 1973, the company has designed, manufactured and marketed high-performance flashlights, and today offers a broad array of lights, lanterns, weapon light/laser sighting devices, and scene lighting solutions for professional law enforcement, military, firefighting, industrial, automotive, and outdoor applications. Streamlight is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. For additional information, please call 800-523-7488, visit www.streamlight.com or connect with us on www.facebook.com/streamlight; www.twitter.com/Streamlight; and www.youtube.com/streamlighttv.

For London’s Eastman Dental Hospital  A world-renowned specialist dental hospital in London, UK, is the most recent NHS facility to be protected by the very latest in fire detection solutions from Apollo Fire Detectors, installed by Fisk Fire Group. The Eastman Dental Hospital has been established for over 60 years and treats around 85,000 outpatients every year. As well as providing dental care to the public, the hospital also houses research, postgraduate teaching and dentistry training facilities within a large and complex total building footprint of 18,398 m2. When the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust commissioned the upgrade of the fire detection system at the Eastman Dental Hospital, Apollo was selected as the technology provider by Fisk Fire Group, the company appointed to supply and install the system to protect the site’s staff, patients and property. The Apollo fire detection system, which operates a ‘one out all out’ evacuation sequence, consists of approximately 1200 XP95 detectors which were specified to meet the main fire detection requirements throughout the five storeys of the Eastman Dental Hospital building. The intelligent system was designed around six 5-loop networked Morley panels, as well as a repeater panel. As a result of the complex NHS environment, the Fisk Fire Group and Eastman Dental Hospital project team had to take an unusual approach to installation, as director, Tel Fisk, explains: “Due to the Eastman Dental Hospital being not only a busy NHS hospital, but also a diverse training and research facility, no day works were allowed on site. To overcome this challenge, our installation schedule was carried out between the hours of 7pm to 5am, and was completed to a tight timetable. Our considerable experience in using Apollo’s products really contributed to us being able to meet our deadline, despite the time-sensitivity of the project.” The Eastman Dental Hospital’s fire detection system also incorporates 156 of Apollo’s new XP95 manual call points. Designed to comply with European standard EN54─11:2001, the manual call points are supplied with isolators, meaning that additional isolation devices are not required, saving both time and money. In addition to being EN54─11 compliant, the Apollo manual call points include a number of features designed to make installation and testing quick, easy and cost effective. These include the manual call points being loop-powered (thus saving wiring costs), having bi-coloured LEDs to indicate fault and normal conditions and incorporating a resettable element for fast testing and resetting of the device. Matt Ketley, UK sales manager for the South East Region at Apollo Fire Detectors, adds: “The Eastman Dental Hospital installation is another example of our strong working relationship with Fisk Fire Group. At Apollo we’re proud of our reputation for delivering reliable fire detection solutions to a wide variety of different buildings and sectors, and this was a great project to showcase our exciting new range of manual call points.” For further information, visit www.apollo-fire.co.uk

Lenzing is presenting a new fibre concept for the nonwovens industry Eurocel™ is a European product through and through. The cellulose fibres used are made in Austria in an environmentally responsible process. Eurocel™ is based on the idea of offering a high quality European product to consumers. Sandler, a German nonwovens manufacturer partner, adopted the idea of Eurocel™ and developed a new product for their customers. “We are well known for quickly putting our ideas into practice and we immediately recognized the potential of Eurocel™ for the European market,” Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, member of the Sandler management board, explains. Due to the sustainable and high quality production of fibre material at Lenzing and Sandler’s innovative strength, a wipe has now been created which is extremely skin-friendly. The advantages of Eurocel™ go very well with the concept of the German nonwoven manufacturer, Sandler, who have their company headquarters at the center of Europe. “Production in Europe translates into shorter delivery distances which means fewer carbon dioxide emissions during transportation and thus a lower carbon footprint,” Hornfeck comments. Apart from the logistical advantages, Hornfeck also names the improved product properties, such as the improved volume, the higher tear resistance and reduced elongation. Future Europe “The goal is to persuade other nonwoven manufacturers of this European idea and offer a convenience care product which complies with today’s consumer demands: sustainable, natural, and high quality,” Elisabeth Stanger, head of the Hygiene Business Segment, explains. Eurocel™ can be awarded with the raw material certification label PEFC, Oeko Tex Standard 100, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, European Ecolabel, Compostable (DIN CERTCO), Vinçotte OK compost HOME, Vinçotte OK compost, Vinçotte OK bio-degradable SOIL, Medically tested / ITV Denkendorf, US BPI compostable certificate and Food contact compliance Certification. www.lenzig.com

for virtual incident response training Carmarthen, March 18th 2014 – Following an official tender for delivery and implementation of a virtual incident command training platform, the Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service (MWWFRS) has selected RescueSim as platform of choice. Implementation and incident training with RescueSim has already been initiated. MWWFRS covers approximately 4,500 square miles which makes up nearly two thirds of the area of Wales. The Service is organised into six County Commands boundaries, one for each unitary authority areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Powys. The Service is made up of 57 Fire Stations crewed with a total of approximately 1400 uniformed and non – uniformed staff. RescueSim is a next gen virtual training tool for emergency responders and Fire and Rescue services that allows emergency crews to virtually train and experience a diverse range of incidents as they would in real-life. They assess the situation and determine the best response strategy, implement it and then observe the consequences of their decisions and consider effectiveness during post incident debriefing. After a thorough evaluation and direct comparison with other virtual incident training tools during an official tender process, MWWFRS selected RescueSim because it was the only virtual training platform to fully meet all the set requirements and specifications. Throughout the tender process, the various simulation systems where judged on their ability to offer an immersive and graphic training environment that included all relevant United Kingdom Fire Rescue Service (UKFRS) response elements. Further requirements included ease-of-use for the instructor, the ability to providing realistic, cost effective and safe emergency response training through a comprehensive scenario portfolio, individual and team assessment tools, along with the national government led Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) joint integrated training events and the possibility of being used to support ‘Gold’ level scenarios. MWWFRS ICS lead Station Manager Andrew Pughsley is currently integrating RescueSim into their Incident Command Training Curriculum. During Q1 2014, over 20 RescueSim operators were trained within the Fire Service to operate the RescueSim platform and host virtual incident command training to MWWFRS personnel. The wider scope of the implementation will be to have an All Wales RescueSim through collaboration under the vision of the National Issues Committee (NIC). For more info about RescueSim, visit www.rescuesim.com For more information about The Mid and West Wales Fire Service visit www.mawwfire.gov.uk  

in Brighton Hochiki Europe will be demonstrating the features and benefits of its cutting edge fire detection and emergency lighting solutions at the 2014 HefmA National Conference. This year’s Hands Across the Water conference takes place over 15th and 16th May and will be two days packed with valuable resources for those in the industry. On the Hochiki Europe stand visitors can view a static example of Hochiki’s HFP fire detection system, which is a complete solution for all fire detection requirements. In addition to analogue addressable and conventional systems, Hochiki offers products for the more specialised environments including explosion-proof and marine detectors. The HFP range includes Hochiki’s photoelectric detectors, which feature the company’s pioneering High Performance Chamber Technology. The design of the optical chamber in this product minimises the differences in sensitivity experienced in flaming and smouldering fires. Offering the very latest in cutting edge technology helps negate the problems associated with unwanted and false alarms. Also on display is a fully working version of FIREscape – a unique, energy efficient and cost-effective Emergency Lighting system that is a state-of-the-art evacuation solution that fulfils all the safety requirements of modern buildings. Powered via low voltage (24V) cabling, the light emitting diode (LED) technology that the system is based around is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly – in fact, it uses less than five percent energy consumption compared with conventional lighting. This makes FIREscape a green alternative to other systems that are currently available and allows operating costs to be kept to a minimum without compromising the safety of a building’s occupants. Manufactured in the UK, Hochiki’s FIREscape panel continuously monitors and tests the functionality of the system. It can also be pre-programmed to carry out specific tests making the system compliant with the requirements of BS5266-1:2005. Copies of Hochiki’s BS5266 and BS5839 pocket guides are available to take away from stand 46 at the event. For further information on Hochiki’s products please contact Alicia Parfitt on 01634 266 566 or use the newly available Hochiki Brochure App which provides product information straight to mobile devices #hochikiapp  

To increase marketing activity Cirencester based strategic communications specialist Soaring Worldwide has been appointed by CIA Fire & Security Group to look after its PR and marketing activities.   Cirencester-based CIA Fire & Security recently completed the acquisition of Gloucester based Micro-Vision Fire and Security, creating the region’s leading provider of security services. Soaring Worldwide, also based in Cirencester, will be helping CIA Fire & Security Group to communicate its key messages to its target audiences through web development, branding, PR and strategic planning.   Matthew Harrison, operations director at CIA Fire & Security Group: “Soaring Worldwide has extensive knowledge of the security market and has a proven understanding of our target audience which made them a perfect partner to help us achieve our marketing goals. We are going through a period of growth. Using Soaring Worldwide’s creativity and strategic approach will enable us to deliver a coherent campaign across all our marketing activities.”   Soaring Worldwide’s managing director Adam Baggs adds: “Working with CIA Fire & Security Group is a wonderful opportunity to help them expand their marketing activities using our full range of services. We are very excited at the prospect of increasing their profile using our strategic approach and knowledge of the market in order to help them reach a wider audience.”