Fire SuppressionSystems
The best way to safeguard your business from fire, reduce the risk of damage to your facility and its contents, and keep occupants safe, is by investing in a fire protection system. Partnering with a company that understands the needs of your property is key. From design to installation, maintenance, inspection, and repair, Ahern has a team of NICET certified designers, in-house fabrication resources, and experienced field teams to meet your project needs.
Installation &Service
Our special hazards fire protection systems, or alternative suppression systems, often protect businesses’ mission critical spaces, such as data centers, computer rooms, process chemical areas, and more. These areas are referred to as ‘mission critical,’ because their continued operation is critical to the lifeblood of the business they support. In the event of a fire, these mission critical areas require non-water based protection systems to remain operational. Our long résumé of mission critical successes allows us to quickly identify the proper systems for your unique space, and efficiently move through design and installation. Because we are fluent in the requirements of over 50 NFPA and IBC codes, engineers and building owners alike often rely on our expertise regarding unique occupancy based hazards.
Many fire protection applications require alternative suppression systems for areas or critical equipment where standard, water-based systems are not the desired approach. Ahern’s special hazards service team is trained to identify and inform you of potential problems or code compliance issues that may adversely impact your alternative suppression systems. For the past seven years, our fire protection employees have annually received over 1,600 hours of special hazards training. This enables our team to act as an advisor to building owners regarding requirements for unique occupancy based hazards.
As of 2019, we employ over 30 special hazards fire protection professionals who average 19 years of industry experience
- O’Fallon, MO
- Our project team averaged 9 years of experience
- All designs were approved on the first submission, and required no rework
- Clayton, MO
- This project's 4 office members averaged 12 years of experience
- 100% on-time completion
- Davenport, IA
- Project completion one month ahead of schedule
- 100% of the project’s field crew held industry certifications
- Beloit, WI
- The field crew members averaged 10 years of industry experience
- The office team averaged 12 years of industry experience, accompanied by a NICET Level 3 certification
- Sauget, IL
- Ahern completed its work within 1% of the original estimate
- All of Ahern’s fire protection designs were approved by regulatory authorities the first time
- Minneapolis, MN
- 100% on-time completion
- All designs were approved by regulatory authorities the first time
- Omaha, NE
- 100% on-time completion
- The project was completed within the original estimate
- No OSHA recorable events or lost-time injuries
- Platteville, WI
- Ahern’s field crew averaged 15 years of experience
- 100% on-time completion
- Madison, WI
- All work was completed on schedule
- Completed design and installation work with customer-supplied specialty equipment
- Kohler, WI
- No warranty rework required
- Gold-level LEED certified
- Appleton, WI
- Design approved on first submission
- Project completed within estimated budget
- Madison, WI
- Project completed three months ahead of schedule
- The field crew held an average of 12 years of experience
Explosion protection systems are a product line many will never deal with or even knew existed. Explosion risk is present with many industrial process facilities involving food, grain, pharmaceuticals, power generation, aerosol filling, wood, or other flammable vapors or combustible dusts in confined vessels or spaces. These sophisticated systems are designed to detect an event within milliseconds by watching for either a flame, with high-speed optical flame detectors, or the pressure wave in front of the flame with pressure detectors. By rapidly injecting a suppression agent into the space or volume, the heat is removed from the flame front as it consumes the fuel, thus stopping the event.
Another method of dealing with explosion risks is venting of explosion pressures and flame to a safe area outside via explosion relief vents.
Spark/Ember Suppression systems are typically used to stop small sparks and embers traveling in industrial ducts used to carry flammable dusts and materials to processes or filters and collection equipment.
Working with a system of very sensitive optical sensors and water spray assemblies within the ducts, the small glowing embers or sparks are detected as they travel down the duct or pipe in the airstream. Before they can make their way to the process or filter, a curtain of fine water is injected into the duct or pipe to quench and remove the heat or energy from the particles. The systems are designed to cycle on and off as needed, only stopping the process when excessive quantities of sparks or embers are seen. The systems are designed to remove the sources of energy, as a preemptive strike that could result in a fire event or explosion if not addressed.
Ahern has protected over 2.9 million square feet of data center, telecommunication, and other mission critical equipment space since 2004.
