Here at Building and Facilities News, we take pride in showcasing the most game changing companies out there, those who are changing their industry through sheer innovative and best practice alone. As such, we are excited to present Eastern Extinguisher with this issue’s Fire Safety Company of the Month profile.
Eastern Extinguishers was founded in 2016 as a division of Eastern Attachments Limited. Eastern Attachments was established in 1996 as manufacturers of agricultural and construction equipment. They set up Eastern Extinguishers as a way to market their highly innovative and revolutionary fire extinguisher, made using advanced composite technology which is already shaking up the fire safety industry.
Eastern Extinguishers’ exceptionally unique fire extinguisher is lauded as the world’s first non-steel extinguisher. Typically, fire extinguishers are made using steel, which, whilst strong, bear a number of disadvantages. First and foremost, steel is subject to corrosion, and, as such, they require annual maintenance and refilling every 5 years (for water, foam and powder), which can be very costly.
We spoke to Eastern Extinguishers’ Managing Director Craig Wright, who explained the necessity of their composite extinguisher. “The inventor of our extinguisher had decades of experience in the industry and was well aware of the expensive, and often hidden costs, involved in buying a steel extinguisher. This seeded an idea to create an extinguisher that didn’t corrode and inspiration came from the aerospace industry through using advanced composite technology.
The composite materials meant minimising corrosion, avoiding costly maintenance contracts, but also made the extinguisher stronger, lighter and more durable.
The Eastern extinguisher features a high density polyethylene blow-moulded core, with super strong Kevlar weave wrapped around it, housed within a protective UV resistant casing. Completely sealed, the composite extinguisher is safer, lighter, easier to wield and even environmentally friendly to boot, using low energy manufacturing to build.
Given its ability to withstand rust, the Eastern extinguisher requires only minimal maintenance and servicing which can be carried out by the client themselves, significantly saving on time and money. With their outstanding product management tool, Eastern Extinguishers can teach clients to service the extinguisher by themselves, supported by on-line tutorials and dedicated account support. Furthermore, users are taught how to monitor and check the pressure level of the extinguisher, as well as how to inspect the product through an informative series of training tutorials.
Regarding longevity, a standard extinguisher would need to be serviced once a year, re-pressured after 5 years, and replaced after another 5. The Eastern extinguisher however can be self-maintained, needing re-filling after 10 years and then lasting another 10 years, hence having a life cycle of 20 years, with zero yearly contractual servicing costs.
Due to the immense advantages to using the Eastern extinguisher, it has seen strong sales growth sales across the country. Right now it can be found everywhere from hospitals to offices, public and private companies, government buildings, utilities, logistics sectors, and even the British Library in London. Craig explained, “We are effectively disrupting the entire industry through innovation. Our extinguishers offer a longer life, easier maintenance, higher efficiencies, and a more ergonomic design. It is a world first that has the power to seriously change the dynamics of fire safety as clients’ own staff can be trained to self-inspect and maintain their composite extinguishers, instead of signing up to costly repeat visits from external contractors.”
Another key difference between the Eastern Extinguisher and its typical counterpart is the ratio of foam to water. Normal steel foam extinguishers are 98.5% water and 1.5% foam and can only tackle Class A and B fires. On the other hand, Eastern extinguishers contain 11.5% foam which allows for a more intense smother and cover effect on fires, which, combined with a pulsing mechanism within the nozzle, mean that in addition to working on Class A and B fires they can also be used on Electrical fires of up to 1000 volts.
“We noticed during our many on-site surveys that the majority of businesses have two fire extinguishers at their fire points, one to cover Class A and B fires and one for electrical fires,” said Craig, “With our composite extinguishers, clients need only one product on site to cover most fire types, typically reducing inventory by up to 40-50%.
Our Eastern extinguisher is also stronger in terms of output, with our popular 6 Litre foam capable of covering 3.4 sqm of fire compared to just 1.3 sqm with a 6 Litre steel foam extinguisher.” These benefits mean our customers are saving on average 47% over a 10 year period compared to staying as they are. Our composite extinguishers are also available in Dry Powder and Wet Chemical.
Understandably, safety is one of the foremost concerns regarding fire equipment, for both property, persons and those fighting the fire too and the safest advice is always to evacuate to minimise potential danger. Where a fire is blocking an exit route or can be easily contained then using an extinguisher can prevent a lot of damage. Due to its high fire rating, ability to tackle numerous fires, and ease of use, the Eastern extinguisher is safer to use even if used inefficiently by inexperienced staff. “When fighting a fire a lot of people suffer a sort of decision paralysis whereby even the most experienced people panic on what to do. As our extinguisher takes care of multiples fire types it means our customers can have full confidence in knowing that our composite extinguisher will perform, bringing peace of mind in what can be stressful situations.”
With more and more businesses and trade sectors coming on board, Eastern Extinguishers are seeing incredible rising success. In the last 12 months alone they have secured a strategic partnership with a very prominent distributorship that is already providing great opportunities, as well as spreading awareness for their outstanding invention.
In addition to consolidating their position in the UK, Eastern Extinguishers also have exciting plans to push their product across Europe, opening up new markets and transforming the fire safety industry other territories.
If you would like to find out more about Eastern Extinguishers, then don’t hesitate to get in contact today. Alternatively, to find out more information, please feel free to check out website detailed below.
T 01953 450350
sales@easternextinguishers.co.uk
www.easternextinguishers.co.uk