From Town Online:

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral recently announced that more than 175 electronically monitored fire extinguishers were installed in two of the Department's correctional facilities - the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay and the Suffolk County Jail on Nashua Street, both in Boston. The extinguisher monitoring technology named en-Gauge was developed and installed by Rockland-based MIJA, Inc.

    "By installing the en-Gauge electronically monitored fire extinguishers we are enhancing the life safety of our inmates, staff, volunteers, visitors and other prison-related personnel," said Cabral. "en-Gauge will ensure that our fire extinguishers are always where they should be and ready for use in the event of a fire emergency," Cabral added.

    En-Gauge allows the fire extinguishers to be tied into a stand-alone monitoring system located in Central Operations in both facilities.

    The technology monitors for three items: Presence - is the fire extinguisher in its appropriate location; Pressure - is the extinguisher fully pressurized and operational and Obstruction - is there anything blocking access to the fire extinguisher. If any of these characteristics are out of order, the device immediately signals the security panel alerting officials that there is a problem to address.

    More importantly, whenever someone removes an extinguisher from its cradle or cabinet or blocks an extinguisher, Central Operations is immediately alerted so they can quickly determine if there is a life safety event such as a fire or theft, which is taking place.

    "Already we are seeing the technology's positive impact," added Special Sheriff and Suffolk County House of Correction Superintendent Gerard Horgan, who stated that the technology recently alerted Central Command when a fire extinguisher was blocked.

    The two national code bodies in the United States - the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Codes Council, also recognize electronic monitoring of fire extinguishers. Each of these bodies allows electronic monitoring in lieu of 30-day physical inspections, which save facilities from the labor and time-intensive job of manually inspecting each device.

    "We do everything we can to maintain safety and security in our facilities", said Cabral. John McSheffrey, Vice President, Business Development of MIJA, Inc. stated, "The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is a leader in adopting this technology. Not only are they the first correctional facility with en-Gauge; they are also the first government building installation in the country as well."

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Original post by admin and software by Elliott Back