Introduction

Established in the year 1994, FIRETECH is an industry leader in firefighting and suppression system domain. Today, the company stands tall with more than 25 years experience in designing, engineering and manufacturing of fire suppression solutions. Our founder Mr. M P Rane was a pioneer of foam-based fire suppression system in India. Though over the years, FIRETECH has extended its capabilities in water and dry chemical fire suppression systems, it still maintains its stronghold in foam systems.

FIRETECH has a range of products for protection against all types of fire hazards. Its key product line is UL listed. FIRETECH product range comprises of 3 types of equipment :-

• Foam suppression system - Foam system is used for fire protection of chemicals that are lighter than water e.g. crude oil, petrol etc. FIRETECH has a complete range UL listed products in this category including bladder tanks, Inline balanced pressure foam proportioner, Inline inductor, Medium and high expansion foam generators etc.

• Water suppression system - These systems use plain water for firefighting. Main products in this category are water monitor, revolving head, water curtain nozzle, Medium and high velocity water spray nozzle, jumbo curtain nozzles.

• Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) system - FIRETECH also manufactures DCP tanks and special purpose discharge devices for DCP system.

FIRETECH stands for engineering excellence. FIRETECH also designs and engineers customized solutions as per customer's requirements. An in-house team of engineers help customers design fire- fighting system as per their requirement, in line with latest NFPA and OISD guidelines.

Q. What can you tell us about future projects within its core business as well as in terms of expansion plans?
KMR: FIRETECH's strong legacy and rich experience gives us an edge in product development. Today, we have a very formidable product line but we recognize that the future belongs to companies which continuously evolve. We already have UL listed foam equipment. We are currently working on extending our portfolio. We will have UL listing on medium velocity water spray nozzles soon. Apart from this, we have also initiated value engineering for a couple our products to modernize their design and improve performance. We plan to launch them in next couple of quarters. We are also targeting newer markets and customer segments across the globe. Our sales team is exploring select markets and has undertaken a market study to develop products specifically for our focus markets.

AB: We are also keeping a keen eye on new and emerging market trends like electric vehicles, indigenization of defense procurement and new technologies like electronic proportioning system etc. We are looking for a dislocation in the market that will allow us to enter emerging segments. We are in process of developing our long-term strategic road map which will guide us over next 5 years.

Q. What are the important projects handled by the company globally and sectors aimed for India?

KMR: Today, FIRETECH has been associated with more than 600 clients across the globe. We routinely export to UAE and other Middle Eastern countries along with South East Asian markets. Through our channel partners, we are reaching out to Europe, Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania, Vietnam etc. We are largely focussed on Oil & Gas, power, industrial and chemical sectors.

AB: Though we come across as a manufacturing company, we really are an engineering company at heart. We love to work on challenging assignments. We strive to ensure that the critical assets of our client are protected from fire hazard.

We have been fortunate enough to work on projects that are of national importance and technically very challenging. For example, FIRETECH has been a part of first indigenous nuclear sub-marine launched by India - Arihant. FIRETECH also recently designed and manufactured foam-based firefighting system for a high-altitude aircraft hangar for Indian Air Force in Ladakh. The temperature there often falls below minus 20 Deg C. FIRETECH has also installed and commissioned the India's largest foam-based system for LNG terminal at Ennore for IOCL. Our technical expertise gives us an edge while working on such large-scale complex projects.

Q. What is the level of awareness of the importance of smart fire safety technologies among end- users?
KMR: Fire is one of the foremost and critical challenge that is being faced by all establishments today. Be it residential apartment or school or industrial complex, the risk of fire is ever present. With increasing energy consumption and ever-increasing use of plastics & other combustible materials in our homes, offices and factories; fire risk needs to be taken seriously. Recently, we have seen so many incidents of fire which have led to loss of property and human lives. Despite all this, level of awareness regarding fire is very low. Even today, when we hear fire alarm siren; our first reaction is - this must be some fire drill or something is wrong with the fire alarm. No one really thinks that it must be a real fire scenario.

AB: Presence of smart fire safety technologies will surely help us in identifying fire risk in time, providing sufficient time for further actions. However, currently Indian fire fighting industry is far behind in terms of adopting technology for fire detection and suppression. As Kiran mentioned, key

reason for this is low awareness. We are working with our industry associations to tackle this issue through community and customer outreach.

Q. What are the recent technological developments in the field of equipment?
KMR: Having said that, industry is rapidly changing by exploring efficient ways to suppress fire. Tank fires, once considered an accident that led to large scale disaster, is now being viewed as a controllable accident. Manufactures and oil companies are experimenting with various products and techniques right from ultra-high expansion foams to hybrid equipment that combines multiple type II discharge devices to suppress large tank fire. However, a focused research and experimentation is required to further develop practical application of such products and techniques.

AB: Like other industries, even firefighting has not been able to stay away from modern advancements. However, considering criticality of firefighting equipment, firefighting fraternity is generally very cautious and hence slow in adopting new technologies. People still trust age old ways, and probably rightly so; as those techniques have been proven over the years. To give you an example - an electronic foam proportioning system has been around for few years now. Such system has an on-board micro controller which decides how much foam is to be mixed with water based on water flow and pressure. In theory and actual controlled experiments, these equipment have achieved desired results. However, data regarding their long-term reliability and performance under real fire scenario is not widely available and thus hampering their widespread adoption.

Q. What is your message and final thought that you would like to share with our readers?
KMR: I would like to address our young readers to consider safety and security industry as a viable career option. With growing industrialization and urbanization, demand for safety and security products and services is bound to increase. I routinely interact with young engineers. I get motivated and charged by their enthusiasm and energy. This generation never stops to question the age old and established thoughts. I believe these sharp minds with their flair for technology can do wonders and help make India leader in global safety and security industry.

For more information visit:
www.firetechindia.com