Udec Corporation

Emergency lighting under all applicable code requirements must be tested. Furthermore, these tests must have results committed to writing. In some occasions, however, there has been logistical confusion over when the writing may not be required.

This apparent inconsistency is explained by the instance when self-testing emergency lighting systems are being employed. It is still generally required that a written record (rather than electronic data) be kept.

“Written records of visual inspections and tests shall be kept by the owner for inspection by the authority having jurisdiction.” NFPA’s Life Safety Code, Article 5-9:3, Periodic Testing of Emergency Lighting Equipment.

In many instances, modern emergency lights will be labeled either ‘self-testing’ or ‘self-diagnostic.’ If the equipment is self-diagnosing, then one aspect of record keeping is modified…but not eliminated. The requirement for recording in writing the actual testing of the equipment is waived. This only applies to the monthly recording of the results of the 30 second continuos testing.

But if relying on the self-diagnostic test, then a visual inspection must still be made on the emergency lighting, once every 30 days. And the visual inspection must still be recorded in writing. Having a full annual test (of 90 minute duration) on the equipment is in no way modified by having self-diagnostic emergency lighting.

Historical Moment: The 2005 Dutch airport Jail Fire

A fire in a prison complex at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport broke out on Oct 27, 2005 shortly after midnight, started by a discarded cigarette. The fire raged for 3 hours, killing 11 prisoners and injured 15 more, including 4 firemen and policeman.

An unidentified detainee reported that initially the guards did not take the prisoners’ warnings of a fire seriously and told them nothing was wrong. They didn’t open the door,” he said, “They kept us locked up. Our throats started hurting. We were kicking and screaming.”

Approximately 350 prisoners were being held in the complex at Europe’s fourth largest airport when the fire broke out. Some 43 were in the wing that caught fire. Police searched for an unreported number of escaped prisoners. Helicopters were called in to assist during the fire to track down possible escaped detainees.

Nine men and two women from Ukraine, Turkey, Suriname, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Libya, Georgia, and Romania, died trapped in their cells.

The Dutch Justice Minister and the Housing Minister resigned following fierce criticism of their ministries. A report concluded that the fire would have caused fewer or no casualties at all had the government observed fire safety regulations.

Hundreds of cocaine smugglers, mostly from the Caribbean and Curacao, are detained at the airport every year, as are immigrants caught trying to enter the country illegally. Prison cell capacity was greatly expanded in 2002.

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: Exit Signs with Emergency Light Combination: Self-Diagnostic
For areas requiring enough ambient light to allow for a safe evacuation during a power outage.

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: 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.

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.

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: The 1971 Ibrox Football Stadium Disaster

THe 1971 Ibrox disaster is listed as one of the blackest days in Scottish football history attended by a crowd of 80,000 football fans. The tragedy resulted in the loss of 66 lives with another 145 other fans injured. Among the dead were 31 teenagers, and four schoolboy pals from the small town of Markinch in Fife, who never returned from the game alive.

The disaster occurred when crush barriers collapsed on the stairway adjacent to passageway 13 as thousands of fans were leaving the Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow on Jan 2, 1977. The collapse created a smothering chain-reaction pile-up of the crowd. Bodies were found stacked as deep as six feet in the area.

It was at the end of a Rangers versus Celtic game and after 89 minutes of scoreless football, Celtic took a 1-0 lead and many Rangers supporters left the stadium. However, in the last seconds of stoppage time, Colin Stein scored an equalizer for Rangers.

An untrue report circulated for years that fan who were leaving the grounds, came back and met a wave of jubilant fans coming in the opposite direction, but that has been proven untrue. All were heading in the same direction when the crush took place halfway down Stairway 13.

The Ibrox disaster led to a huge redevelopment of Ibrox Park and is a testament to those who died. A plaque and a statue of the Rangers captain at the time of the disaster commemorates the scene where the tragedy occurred.

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: Decorative Area Light for Office

UDEC Ultra-Thin office decor area lights are specifically designed to attractively compliment any setting. They can easily be mounted on wall or ceiling for optimum style and 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.

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: The 2004 República Cromagnon Fire
Argentines awoke on New Year’s Eve to scenes of horror on television: Pictures flashed of dazed, sobbing survivors from a nightclub fire, blackened by soot, outside the club or in hospitals. Others were frantically searching for loved ones, and  fainting, wailing  parents guarded charred bodies lined up outside on the club’s sidewalk.

 4,000 fans at a New Year’s Eve concert by the band Los Callejeros, nearly three times the building’s capacity of 1500 people, fought to reach the exits after a flare ignited the foam ceiling, sparking a blaze that killed 175 people and injured another 714.
 
Four of the six emergency exits were found padlocked or wired shut to prevent people from entering the club without paying. Instead, the barred exits prevented the young adults from leaving the building as burning debris fell on them.
  
Before the concert, the rock band playing at the club warned the crowd not to shoot flares because of the fire hazard. People attending rock concerts in Argentina frequently set off flares and fireworks. But during the first song, a flare was fired, turning the club into a blazing inferno.
 
The fire tore through the concert hall in the working-class neighborhood of Once, filling the club with thick, choking, black smoke. Several small children and babies, found in a makeshift nursery in the women’s bathroom upstairs, were also killed in the fire. 

One of the club’s barman said that a flare fired a week earlier in the same club caused a small fire that was quickly extinguished. It later became known that República Cromagnon was overdue for a fire hazard inspection since late November 2004.  

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

These exit signs are entirely self-powered and do not rely on electricity, back-up batteries or generators for its illumination. It can be mounted anywhere without wiring or outlets, and needs no maintenance and is specifically constructed to resist tampering and vandalism and can withstand explosive, corrosive, humid or other harsh environment.

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

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: Fraser Pier Fire (Ocean Park, CA)

A fire broke out at Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier in Ocean Park on September 3, 1912.

The fire started by someone carelessly tossing a smoldering cigarette in some bedding in the Japanese servants’ quarters in the basement. A strong late afternoon breeze fanned the flames and within minutes cries of “Fire!” came from a dozen different directions.

Sparks, leaping two hundred feet high, showered down like a fiery bath over the flimsy paint canvas and light wooden grill that adorned the pier’s attractions. Over a thousand visitors were still on the pier heading for the two main exits when the Skating Rink caught fire, blocking one of the exits. 

Fire companies’ efforts amounted to a few puny streams of water until Venice’s high pressure system was used. The Los Angeles Fire Companies speedy arrival only 27 minutes later did little to control the blaze.

Panic on the pier erupted. People, including owner Fraser and his young son, reached the docks and escaped by boat. Other’s leapt into the sea.
 
The fire totally destroyed the pier, all the amusements and five square blocks of the business district. All 225 structures burned, two people died, several were missing, 75 people were injured and 800 people were homeless. The loss was set at $2,000,000 with little of it insured.
 
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 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.

The unit contains a battery, charger and inverter circuit in a single package. The BAL can be mounted in the wireway or on top of the fixture, and is UL Listed for factory installation or retrofit applications.

All Ballasts are Standard with Dual 120/277 Volt Input.

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

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment: Coney Island’s Dreamland Fire

On May 27, 1911 at two in the morning, opening day for Coney’s new Dreamland Hell Gate Attraction was only a few hours away. Several lights bulbs burst, buckets of tar were accidentally tipped over, and Hell Gate exploded into flames.
 
The fire spread quickly to the rest of the park, but fortunately for the fire companies at the scene, the wind’s direction calmed the fire that had the potential to destroy the rest of the park.
 
All of Dreamland was destroyed, along with Coney Island icons like Thompson’s Scenic Railway, and the Iron Tower.  Dreamland’s lathe & plaster structures were so flammable that it caused the Dreamland tower fire to be exceptionally bright. People in Manhattan could see the tower fire during a period where the city’s buildings averaged only ten stories tall. 

It is believed that William H. Reynold’s greed was the undoing of the park. He set down Dreamland so fast that the city did not have time to pull up their fire hydrants. The firemen reported serious issues of low pressure, assumed to have been caused by the dozens of hydrants leaking water amongst the ruins. 

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: Light Fixtures: Incandescent Emergency Light Fixture with Battery Backup

• Universal Voltage of 80 VAC up to 300VAC; ceiling or wall mount; Two adjustable; halogen; glare-free light heads; Rechargeable; maintenance-free;  replaceable 6-volt; 4.5-ah lead calcium battery provides 90 minute of emergency operation; Push button test switch and charge rate indicator included; White injection molded thermoplastic housing; Unit snaps together for easy installation. Quick wire connection; UL listed for damp location; UL 924; NFPA and NEC approvals; Warranty; Email or call for quantity discounts.

(Incandescent Emergency Light Fixture w/ Battery Backup & Remote Control Test
Remote Control Option: Conduct testing for 30 seconds or 90 minutes by selecting the test time on the remote control.)

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