Udec Corporation

Historical Moment: 2005 Zhongshan Christmas Fire

A Christmas celebration turned into a tragedy when 26 people were killed and 11 injured in a bar fire in Zhongshan City of south China’s Guangdong Province.

Over 100 to 200 people were in an illegally-opened bar, inside the Tandao Western-style restaurant, when the fire broke out shortly after 11:00 p.m. The unlicensed bar occupies the first two floors of a five-storey building and was not equipped with any fireproof devices. The extremely narrow outlet was responsible for people not getting out safely.

Fireman rushed to the scene within three minutes of the fire’s outbreak, but the quick response was too late for the victims. The devastating fire was put out in about five minutes by 20 firemen.

Eyewitnesses disagree to the cause of the fire. Some cite a gas explosion in the kitchen as the cause, while others thought a short circuit in the wiring ignited the fire.

Many of the dead appeared to have died of smoke inhalation. 25 people were found dead at the site and the other died at a local hospital.

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: Halogen Emergency Light Fixture with Battery Backup - Smart Choice Udec’s auto test feature uniquely lets everyone know that there’s trouble. Each month and annually they are automatically tested as required by the codes. A steady led light tells you that each fixture is ok or a blinking light signals trouble!

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.

Historical Moment: 1980 MGM Grand Hotel Fire

An early morning fire on November 21 broke out in The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hotel and casino had over 5000 tourists and employees inside the 26-story luxury resort with 2000 rooms. The fire claimed 87 lives and injured 785 people.

The fire, caused by an improperly grounded electrical wire that apparently smoldered undetected for hours, was first detected by a hotel employee. Once the fire burst into flames, it moved so rapidly that it spread through the casino at 15-19 feet per second. It spread to the lobby, fed by wallpaper, PVC piping, glue, and plastic mirrors, materials which created toxic smoke and fumes.

The hotel’s fire sprinkler system performed properly, helping to keep the fire out of the high rise hotel area. The fire sprinkler system within the casino and restaurant area kept the fire contained while the firefighters extinguished the fire in those areas.

However, it was the openings in vertical shafts, i.e. the elevators and stairwells, and seismic joints that acted as chimneys and spread the toxic smoke and heat all the way through the 26th floor. While most of the fire damage occurred in the casino, the majority of the deaths were on the upper floors where the victims died from smoke inhalation. Most of the deaths occurred in the stairwells, where the doors locked behind each person.

Guests only learned of the fire upon actually seeing smoke or hearing the warnings from other guests. The hotel’s alarm system was destroyed before fire alarms could activate. Fire doors had recently been installed, but only after complaints from firefighters attending a convention.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) studies show that in this fire the hotel occupants did not exhibit panic behavior. Instead, many took rational steps to preserve their lives, such as putting towels around doors to block out smoke, notifying other occupants, offering refuge in their room, and using wet towels for their face.

The MGM Grand eventually paid $223 million in legal settlements. The hotel and casino was repaired and then sold to Bally’s Entertainment which changed the name to “Bally’s Las Vegas.

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 Corp. offers powerful, safe, unique solutions and 40 years of experience of emergency lighting and exit signs.
UDEC’s Featured Product: Exit Signs: LED Exit Signs - Edge-Lit Recessed

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.

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.

UDEC: LIGHTING THE WAY TO SAFETY
Historical Moment:  NYC World Trade Center Attacks

I don’t think any adult who was alive then forgot where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001 as el-Qaeda suicide hijackers flew two planes into the World Trade Centers Towers.

At work, we gathered around my friend’s desk and speaker-phone. She worked with the New York district and they were on the phone relating their eyewitness view of the tragic events from their office windows, only three blocks away from the World Trade Center towers.

Can I even relate to you the horror as our New York co-workers started screaming and crying as they watched people jump to their deaths from the flaming, crumbling towers? They abruptly hung up, no longer able to speak. In shock we gathered around our break room television to watch the rest of the horrific story until released to go home.

Ultimately, 2,750 deaths were related to the 9/11 attacks, 340 emergency personnel and 60 police officers were killed in the collapse of the Twin Towers. The World Trade Center site cleanup and recovery continued 24 hours a day and involved thousands of workers. The massive pile of debris smoked and smoldered for 99 days.

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 - Photoluminescent Egress Marking Systems
Based on the  WTC Commission recommendations , PL was chosen as the only acceptable system for the progressive NYC building code, Local Law 26.

 According to my UDEC source, one of the few things that did save lives was the emergency egress strips installed in the stairwells in the World Trade Center buildings. They glowed in the dark and were thought of as very important in avoiding panic and confusion with all the people in the absolute dark not even knowing which way was down.

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: The Station Nightclub Fire

The Station Nightclub Fire on February 20, 2003, was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. The Station, which regularly hosted glam metal and ’80s rock bands, was a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. 

The fire started around 11:08 p.m., when pyrotechnics, set off by the headlining band’s, Great White, manager lit flammable sounding proofing foam behind the set. People thought at first the fire to be part of the act. Only when the fire reached the ceiling and smoke began to billow did people realize it was uncontrolled.

Just 20 seconds after the pyrotechnics ended, the band stopped playing, and lead singer, Jack Russell, remarked into the microphone, “Wow… this ain’t good.” 

In less than a minute, the entire stage was engulfed in flames. Although there were four possible exits, most people headed for the door through which they entered. 

The ensuing stampede in the inferno led to a crush in the narrow hallway leading to that main entrance, eventually blocking it completely and resulting in numerous deaths and injuries among the patrons and staff, who numbered somewhat more than 404 - although there are conflicting official capacity limits. 

Of those in attendance, 100 people died and over 200 were injured, either from burns, smoke inhalation or trampling.  Among those who perished in the fire was Great White’s lead guitarist, Ty Longley.

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: Model UR-1 Emergency Lighting Unit

Emergency and economical unit with “EZ” install back plate feature. Modern appearance and low maintenance.

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:  Moscow Hospital Fire

The 2006 Moscow hospital fire occurred on December 9th in Hospital No. 17, a drug addict rehabilitation center in Southern Moscow, Russia.
 
The pre-dawn fire started in a kitchen located at the end of a corridor on the second floor when a wooden cabinet suddenly caught fire. The woman’s ward of the hospital on the same floor, quickly filled with smoke. All people in the ward were trapped, as the main emergency exit was barred by a locked gate. The only other exit was rendered unusable by thick smoke.
 
All windows in the hospital were shut and locked. The staff had the keys to open these windows, but it appears they did not have the time to do so. A call was made to the fire department at 1:30 a.m., but by the time firefighters arrived, all 45 of the trapped women, including two hospital workers, were dead.
 
Most of the victims were killed by suffocation from the smoke, with some fatalities attributed to burns. The situation was made worse by toxic fumes emitted from burning plastic wall coverings.
 
The hospital had been inspected by fire inspectors in February and in March of the same year. The result of the March inspection was a recommendation that the facility be temporarily closed due to fire safety violations.
 
46 people died in this fire. 160 people were evacuated from the building. Arson is suspected.
 
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 Product Feature: Vandal Resistant LED Exit Sign with Clear Lexan Graffiti Shield  

The Edge Lit LED Exit Sign is ideal for architectural applications where an aesthetic and low profile appearance are desired to enhance interior spaces. LED’s cast a brilliant red or green illumination on letters embedded inside the acrylic face. LED indicator light and test switch.   

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:  Our Lady of the Angels School Fire

Our Lady of the Angels was an elementary school  in Chicago, Illinois, that ranged from kindergarten through eight grades. Shortly before classes dismissed on December 1, 1958, a fire began in the basement of the north wing where ignition took place in a cardboard trash barrel and smoldered undetected for estimated 10 to 30 minutes.

By the time the fire was noted, thick, suffocating smoke, extreme heat, and superheated gases filled the stairwells and main corridor. For 329 children and 5 teaching nuns, who become trapped on the second floor, the only means of escape was to jump from their windows to the concrete and crushed rock 25 feet below.
 
The school legally had complied with municipal and state fire codes of 1958, but the codes did not address hazards that became fatal in this fire. The only fire escape was near one end of the north wing, but to reach it required passing through the main corridor, which was impassable.

There was no direct alarm connection to the fire department, no heat detectors, no heavy-duty fire doors, no fire sprinklers and smoke detectors were not yet commercially available.

There were two unmarked fire alarm switches in the entire school, and they were in the south wing. There were four fire extinguishers in the north wing; each mounted seven feet off the floor, out of reach for many adults and virtually all of the children.

92 pupils and 3 nuns lost their lives when smoke, heat, and fire cut off their normal means of escape through corridors and stairways. Many perished when jumping from second-floor windows and another 100 were seriously injured.

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 Product Feature: Emergency Light Fixtures: Explosion Proof Emergency Light

Lamp compartment is factory sealed from wiring chamber, eliminating on-the-job sealing. Inspection hole provides easily accessible splice space. There is nothing to hold while splicing to line. Set screw to stem keeps fixture from turning during relamping. Optional exit sign fits over explosion-proof light. 

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