Udec Corporation

An exit is the way people get out of a building and the emergency exit is to be used in case of fire or any other accidents within the building. There are separate entrances for both these and there usually are multiple Exit Signs indicating the way to the same.

These sign boards are made using various materials and the most preferred models are the self powered kinds. These don’t need batteries and require no wires or power connection to serve the purpose. Not only this, but the lights are visible from long distances and provide effective guidance to all those in need. Also being cost effective, these last for years together with no maintenance required.

The main purpose of the Exit Signs is to indicate the way out to the people stranded within the premises. They also give a reassurance to the employees or shoppers or visitors that safety is just a few steps away making sure panic doesn’t set in. In places like cinema halls and museums where visitors flow in during the day, these signs enable the staff guide them towards the door and safety. With the lettering in bold and red these signs can’t be missed.

Historical Moment: 2007 Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia

An off-campus 64-unit building was destroyed by fire January 13, 2007. Nine residents died as a result of the fire, including three Marshall students.

Dispatchers were called to the scene of a fully-engulfed building at 11:02 p.m. The Huntington Fire Department rescued 24 people before the flames were extinguished.

The fire, which started at about 11 p.m., engulfed the Emmons Jr. building, and firefighters fought for hours to save the building. Their efforts were futile, as they had to stop combating the fire when they realized the building might collapse.

Since the third, fourth and fifth floors were collapsed and dangerous to the safety crew, firefighters brought in engineers to build support beams to allow them to search through the rubble safely.

An electrical engineer from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigated the remains of the building yesterday to determine the cause and origin of the fire, but foul play was not suspected.

Smoke detectors were not present in several apartments and fire extinguishers were only located in some hallways.

As a result of the fire, three of the nine that died are Marshall students. 12 Marshall students were displaced and forced to seek residency within university housing. Other students who were victimized by the blaze blaze went to live with friends or have moved back home.

Are you aware that not every exit sign, emergency light, or emergency light fixture is safe? Just because you can see an exit with the light shining, doesn’t mean it works with the power off.

UDEC’S auto-test is the difference between safety and Russian roulette with the lives of the people inside your building. Auto-test makes emergency lighting easy, but more important; it is the safest way to ensure emergency lighting is there when it’s needed.

UDEC’S Featured Product: Emergency Lighting Fixtures Accessories: Fluorescent Emergency Lighting Ballasts

The BAL fluorescent emergency Ballast allows the same fixture to be used for both normal and emergency operation. In the event of a power failure, the BAL switches to the emergency mode and operates one or two of the existing lamps for a minimum of 90 minutes.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. Udec Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions with 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

Historical Moment: The 2005 Shantou Hotel Fire

A fire engulfed the Huanan Hotel in Shantou on June 10, 2005. It killed 31 people, and left 21 injured of which four were seriously injured. Authorities describe it as one of the worst blazes in the China’s southern Guangdong province since 1994.

According to an investigation report, the disaster was caused by sparks from the electric wires on the ceiling in a room on the second floor, kindling the combustible goods nearby.

The blaze broke out shortly after noon at the hotel located in a downtown district of Shantou city. The fire engulfed the top three floors of the four-story hotel at a trade center in the downtown area.

“Many rooms were gutted,” said an officer on duty at the Chaonan district fire brigade, who refused to give any further details. Firefighters put out the fire in three hours. It is unclear how many people were in the hotel at the time of the fire.

Guangdong governor Huang Huahua was quoted as saying by the Nanfang Daily newspaper, “The incident on June 10 was the most serious fire accident in our province in recent years. This lesson of blood serves as a reminder that we cannot be complacent over work safety issues.”
It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.
UDEC’s Featured Product: Udec Classic Systems Central Power: Open Reflector Type Area Light

The UDEC Open Reflector Type Area Lightprovides evenly distributed illumination for energy conservation, night/security and emergency lighting. Model 8R and 14R Series.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. UDEC Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

Historical Moment: The 1957 Katie Jane Nursing Home Fire.

A fire, considered the worst ever at a U.S. nursing home, killed 72 patients at the Katie Jane Nursing Home in Warrenton, Missouri on February 17, 1957.

It started on a Sunday afternoon in a linen closet on the first floor of the annex, one of two buildings housing 149 people. The cause of the blaze still remains a mystery and not known if arson, outdated electrical equipment, or a resident’s smoking was responsible.

It was a Sunday afternoon when a niece visiting her uncles noticed smoke drifting by their room. The woman went to investigate and saw fire shooting out of a wall near the closet. She immediately ran through the building, screaming “Fire!”, but when she returned to help rescue her uncles, it was too late. The dense smoke was too much.

Although townspeople ran to help, the building went up in flames too fast. Screams and cries of elderly patients trapped in the home were quickly stilled by flames which engulfed the 2-1/2 story brick building within minutes.

Police and firemen reported that the two-story brick buildings were engulfed in flames by the time they arrived at the scene within 20 minutes; their efforts too futile to make a difference. They determined that the fire was aided by the wood in the building, which was more than 50 years old and “dry as a tinderbox.”

The home had no evacuation plan, no alarm system to warn residents, no fire escapes and no sprinkler system. Bed patients were housed on upper floors and some of the patients were locked in their rooms. The conditions were commonplace at nursing homes at that time.

Reports claim that the owner Woodrow S. O’Sullivan, who was devasted at the loss of life, ran a good facility.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

Udec’s signs.Featured Product: Emergency Light Fixtures: Explosion Proof Emergency Lights
Lamp compartment is factory sealed from wiring chamber, eliminating on-the-job sealing.

Model 13EPXS

Optional Exit Sign fits over explosion-proof light

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. Udec Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions with 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exi

Historical Moment: The 1996 Ozone Disco Fire

March 20, 1996 was a night of fun celebrating the end of the school year when the worst night club fire in the Philippines took the lives of over 150 young people.

The Ozone Disco Pub in suburban Manila was a place where upper middle-class teens went to be seen. It was jammed that night with almost 400 celebrating college and high school students and the staff serving them.

There was food, drink and a tiny dance floor wedged between the disk jockey’s station and the bar. It was just after midnight, and the dancing and drinking were in full swing when sparks flew from the disk jockey’s booth. Other survivors thought it was an explosion from the kitchen, but they all agree that next there was the darkness and the smoke.

When everything went dark, and the young customers realized that there was a fire and only one way out — they panicked and stampeded for the exit.

One female survivor described the scene later. “Suddenly the lights went out. I thought it was a gimmick, but then suddenly somebody shouted ‘Fire!’ All I can remember is that there was panic…and a lot of pushing and shoving.”

The heat from the blaze was so intense that many bodies were reported to be charred and fused together. Authorities and family members attempted to identify the badly burned bodies from bits of jewelry and shoes.

Hermilo Ocampo, one of the owners, said the disco had a safety certificate from the Bureau of Fire Protection. He suggested that the high toll might have been caused by the panic triggered by the heavy smoke, making it difficult for people to find the exit.

Safety officials said the club had been approved for the maximum of 35 people, and the emergency exit was blocked by a new building next door. They confirmed that Phillipine club and restaurant owners often found it cheaper to bribe officials than to honor building regulations.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

Udec’s Featured Product: Emergency Light Fixtures: Emergency Lighting Units
Emergency and economical unit with “EZ” install back plate feature has modern appearance and low maintenance. Optional Self Diagnostic/Self Test feature offers the ultimate in worry free maintenance and reliability.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. Udec Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

Historical Moment: 2006 Tennessee Clothes Dryer Fire

Two women, one handicapped, died in a fire when the clothes dryer in their rented single-family home malfunctioned. The wood-frame house, which had an asphalt roof, was not sprinklered.

One of the women awoke around 8:30 a.m. to the smell of smoke and telephoned the fire department. The fire had spread up a wall, across the ceiling, and up an open stairwell to the attic, where it traveled the length of the house above the living areas.

The handicapped woman died at the scene. The other woman suffered burns and smoke inhalation when she tried to rescue her roommate and died at the hospital. The house and its contents were completely destroyed.

After the fire was extinguished, investigators determined that the clothes dryer’s motor malfunctioned, causing clothing and carpeting to overheat and ignite.

One of the most common causes of home fires is clothes dryers, usually because of improper care. “Failure to clean” is the leading factor contributing to clothes-dryer fires in residential building. Below are suggested home safety tips for your clothes dryer.

• Never put synthetic materials such as rubber, plastic, foam, or pieces of cloth that have been used to sponge up flammable liquids in the dryer, even if previously washed.
• Clean the lint out of the exhaust pipe and the rear of the dryer regularly.
• Inspect your lint filter for rips each time you use it. If you see any rips, replace immediately.
• The exhaust pipe should be as short as possible and have limited bends to allow for adequate airflow.

Most home fires happen at night or when people are asleep; emergency lighting or lighting strips can make the difference when you awake, groggy and confused, and need to act quickly in a bad situation. Sprinklers and smoke detectors are a great start to home safety, but emergency lighting can make the difference in helping your family tosafety.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. Udec Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

Udec’s Featured Product: Udec Classic Systems Central Power: Fluorescent Diffuser Type Area Light
The UDEC Diffuser Type Area Light provides evenly distributed illumination for energy conservation, night/security and emergency lighting.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. Udec Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

Historical Moment: The 1942 Cocoanut Grove Fire

The Cocoanut Grove, one of Boston’s most elegant clubs, remains one the deadliest nightclub fires in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more.

An underage busboy trying to replace a light bulb on the night of November 28th, lit a match to see what he was doing. Almost instantaneously, someone noticed flames along the satin ceiling. Seconds later, a fireball burst across the central dance floor just as the orchestra was beginning its evening show. Within five minutes, flames had spread to the main clubroom and the entire nightclub was ablaze.

Panic erupted as 1,000 patrons, entertainers and employees fought desperately to gain the exits through sheets of flames, crushing, trampling, and burning as they tried to escape. Several exits were locked, trapping scores of screaming victims, and a plate-glass window that would have provided egress for 200 people was boarded up.

Exits that weren’t locked were quickly jammed with panicked patrons. The main revolving door become so jammed and packed with dead victims who tried to escape, that firefighters had to disassemble the door to get in. It’s been estimated that possibly 300 of those killed could have been saved had the doors swung outward.

The tragedy was over in a matter of minutes as flames and fumes swept through the club. Although most victims died that night, it took 90 hours to identify all the bodies.

An investigation blamed the massive death toll on gross violations of fundamental principles and the club’s owner was eventually found guilty of manslaughter.

The Cocoanut Grove fire prompted major efforts in the field of fire prevention and control for nightclubs and other related places . Immediate steps were taken to provide for emergency lighting and occupant capacity placards in places of assembly. Exit lights werw also required as a result of the concern generated by this fire.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. Udec Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

Udec’s Featured Product: Exit Signs with Emergency Light Combination: Wet Location
The Wet Location LED unit satisfies both exit and emergency lighting requirements and features a durable ABS, corrosion resistant, UV stabilized housing to withstand wet locations or harsh industrial or laboratory conditions.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. UDEC Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

Historical Moment: The 2001 Tokyo Parlor Fire

A mah-jongg parlor exploded in the early hours on the morning of September 1, killing 44 people in “The Sleepless Castle,” a garish area of all-night gambling and sex shops in downtown Tokyo.

The explosion occurred at about 1 a.m. when an employee of the Ikkyu mah-jongg parlor opened the door of the establishment. Mah-jongg is a popular table game in much of East Asia and sometimes involves gambling.

The explosion happened at an hour when Tokyo’s most famous red-light district is heavily packed with revelers. Witnesses said they heard a loud bang and saw smoke billowing from the building, which houses several other clubs and restaurants.

It was unclear how many people were inside the mah-jongg parlor where the blast occurred on the third floor of the four-story building. Some people fled to the roof where they were plucked off to safety.

Emergency crews quickly cordoned off the area as hundreds of onlookers crowded around. The fire was put out after about five hours. The explosion tore open a hole measuring 6 inches by 5 feet in the side of the building, whose tenants include a casino and an adult club advertised with gaudy red-and-pink signs on the front.

For years, Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district has been the center of the city’s mizu shobai, or sex entertainment industry. The area’s narrow streets are crowded with small bars, restaurants, strip clubs, massage parlors and gambling establishments.

One man who works near the site of the disaster said, “There are many old buildings that aren’t properly maintained, it’s inevitable.”

The fire occurred on Tokyo’s annual disaster preparation day, when the self-defense force, fire department and police performed huge drills aimed at readiness for earthquakes.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most. Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives.

UDEC’s Featured Product: Emergency Light Fixtures: Compact with Remote Capability - Plain Vanilla Choice

UDEC Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: 1986 Pesticide Warehouse Fire

An early morning fire Maple Leaf Farm Supplies Limited pesticide warehouse situated on Main Street, Canning, Nova Scotia. A large variety and quantity of agricultural products including pesticides, herbicides, fumigants, and fertilizers were stored in the building along with seed grains, seed and table potatoes, propane cylinders and miscellaneous farm machinery.

The pesticides were stored in a variety of metal, plastic and paper containers. A large number of propane cylinders and two of gaseous methyl bromide were also present; the contents of the latter were not released during the fire.

An estimated 1.2 million litres of water was used during firefighting operations. The water, contaminated from the pesticides at the fire’s site, passed over adjacent residential properties and into a farmer’s pond, eventually finding its way into the Habitant River via drainage ditches and storm drains.

Vegetation and large numbers of worms were killed in the path of the water: fish and invertebrates died in a local farmer’s pond as well as downstream in the Habitant River. A trench was dug to intercept contaminated runoff and wash water during the cleanup phase; however, this trench was constructed after the bulk of fire-fighting water had left the site.

Municipal and Kings County officials were promptly advised, and they invoked the County Emergency Response Plan, which had been thoroughly tested only days before the fire. By 0300 hours, an evacuation of local residents by firefighters and the RCM Police was underway, including a senior citizens home that was situated very close to the fire site.

Following the evacuation, access to the entire area was restricted to those involved in responding to the incident. Residents living closest to the fire site were not permitted to return to their homes for six days

A potentially hazardous and deadly situation was adverted because of implemented safety equipment and procedures being correctly tested and used.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

UDEC’s Featured Product: Udec Classic Systems Central Power: Open Reflector Type Area Light

The UDEC Open Reflector Type Area Light provides evenly distributed illumination for energy conservation, night/security and emergency lighting.
Emergency light fixtures and exit signs are about saving lives. UDEC Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: The 1996 Düsseldorf Airport Terminal Fire

A fire broke on the roof of terminal A at the airport in Düsseldorf, Germany’s third largest airport. 17 people were killed and 62 injured. The fire was caused by insufficient structural fire protection and ongoing welding work during a time where there was no fire watch.

The fire was enhanced by a litany of human and structural safety errors and violations. Smoke detectors were observed in the office areas of the second floor, but not at the ceiling level in the main concourse area. There where no fire walls or traps in the suspending ceiling. The west end was partially equipped with sprinklers, but the fire broke out on the east end that was built earlier and was not equipped with sprinklers.

Escape ways were not readily available at the right places. Eight of the victims were trapped at the Air France desk because of no nearby exits. Ventilation did not automatically stopped and poisonous smoke gases spread uncontrollably across ventilation systems, posing an even greater danger to people than the high temperatures of the fires. Unprotected vertical openings carried the fire upstairs.

The municipal fire brigade was called 27 minutes after fire alarm. The terminal’s alarm system had prerecorded messages, but did not transmit any signals to the local Düsseldorf fire brigade. After the alarm sounded, somebody started the wrong prerecorded warning message, which called people to go right into the burning area.

Elevators were not stopped, or even going to a safe place. Seven victims went by elevator from the parking lot on the roof top directly into the deadly smoke. When the door opened, the dense smoke hindered the light beam so that the elevator doors could not be closed again.

Besides the loss of life and injuries, damage to the airport was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.

It’s impossible to avoid every calamity or accident, but prevention and safety are our top concerns. UDEC Emergency Lighting provides quality lighting when you need it most.

UDEC’s Featured Product: Exit Signs: Self Luminous Exit Signs
How do know if an exit sign is working? You don’t—because no one notices if they are on or out! Udec’s auto-test exit signs automatically test each sign as required by the codes each month and annually.

Emergency lighting and exit signs are about saving lives. UDEC Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions with 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.