State police, fire marshal offer safety day for public

    PRESQUE ISLE – State and local public safety officials are planning a  day of events designed to educate the community on how to stay safe. Coordinated by the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office, in conjunction with the Presque Isle Fire Department and the Presque Isle Police Department, Safety Day will be held at Northern Maine Community College Wednesday, April 16.     Activities in the morning will consist of informational safety exhibits in the main lobby of the Christie Building by representatives of all three agencies beginning at 8 a.m. and running through noon. The safety fair and all events are open to both the NMCC campus community and members of the general public.
    As part of the morning activity, members of the Presque Isle Fire Department will offer two workshops on how to use a fire extinguisher at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
    Following the morning sessions, representatives of the company No Burn will conduct a live burn demonstration on campus. No Burn is a manufacturer of spray coatings that include a highly advanced line of non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, green fire retardants and fire reactants that render a vast array of materials incapable of burning, as well as inhibiting the growth of black toxic mold. The exercise, using both a small structure treated with the No Burn spray and one not treated, will show the difference the product can make on how a fire spreads and the level of damage caused.
    The live burn demonstration will be followed at 1 p.m. with the first of two seminars on the design, fabrication, installation and costs of residential sprinklers. A second session will be held at 6 p.m. Both sessions will be held in the Edmunds Conference Center at NMCC.
    The keynote speaker for both residential sprinkler seminars is Franz Hasse, the managing director of Kwench Systems International, a holding and marketing company for intellectual properties throughout the United States and overseas. Hasse holds three patents on technology based on combining potable water systems and fire sprinkler into a single unified multi-purpose system.
    Joining Hasse as a presenter for both the afternoon and evening seminar will be Eric Ellis, a fire protection engineer with the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office. Ellis will discuss code requirements, installation, and costs associated with the systems.
    Also participating in the sessions will be representatives from Maine Fire Protection, Eastern Sprinkler Company and Fire Protection Services, all of which offer products and services in fire suppression in Aroostook County.
    For more information on April 16 Safety Day activities at NMCC, including the two residential sprinkler seminars, contact Tim Lowell at (207) 532-5405 or Greg Day at (207) 532-5407.