When you see a fire incident on the news, only see a small part of what it takes to put out that fire. What makes for “good news film footage” is a firefighter holding a hose and putting water on the fire. We see it all the time.
Behind that firefighter seen spraying water is a whole lot of people who make it possible. From the dispatcher that takes the call, to the firefighter at the hydrant who opens the flow of water to the pumper, to the pumper driver suppling the water to the hose; it’s a lot of people, not one single person making it all possible. There is the scene officer directing the operations of the incident and the ladder company firefighters opening the roof to let the heat and smoke out. It is the efforts of the whole “team," working together, that make for the successful extinguishment of the fire.
Recently, I was conducting a training at a transit property in California. While outside going through the fire system on a bus, another bus was being towed in. When I asked what was wrong with the bus, I was told the fire system had gone off. “Cause” I asked? The turbo exhaust pipe broke, which melted a hydraulic hose and caused the hydraulic fluids to burn. The fire system discharged, and the damage was minimal. I was elated to hear this. An Amerex vehicle fire system success!
On my flight home the next day, it hit me about how much the Amerex team can take credit for yesterday’s bus fire success. The work that we do here at Amerex, and the greater McWane companies is much the same as that fire department team. It takes a whole lot of people to make it possible for that system to be on the bus. From the folks who procured the materials to make the system, to those that built the bottle, filled and charged it, labeled it, packaged it, sold it, and shipped it. And what about the system components? Those that built the cables, control panel, nozzles; let’s not forget them too. And then there is our customer service, billing, fiscal and HR staff. There is not one single person who can take credit for that system being on the bus ready to extinguish the fire. It’s the whole team from Amerex that can share in the success of that system putting out that fire. But it’s not just that the fire was put out. There is a greater success that needs to be noted. There were no injuries, no lives lost, and the bus was saved as well. Yes, a true success for all who went into producing, selling and distributing this system to share in.
My experience over the last 42 years has taught me that there are far more fire extinguisher and system successes than we ever hear about. Fire prevention efforts through our equipment are a 365-day effort and everyone at Amerex contributes though the work they do. So, a big heartfelt thank you to all from those customers that have success with the lifesaving products we produce and sell. There a so many stories of fires being put out with our products that are not big enough to make the evening news, so many lives saved, and so much property damage reduced by incipient fires being extinguished.
And for those incidents that do make the evening news, thanks to the other McWane folks that make the ductile pipe, valves, and hydrants that supplied the water so those firefighters could do their jobs!
