Advancements in aerosol fire suppression
- January 9, 2024
- 9:55 am
Iain Hoey
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Jim Dickinson, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, talks about Fireaway Inc.’s journey to redefining fire safety standards with Stat-X
Stat-X® has emerged as a prominent player in the fire suppression industry, offering advanced aerosol technology for protecting enclosed special hazards.
In 2023, Stat-X has continued to innovate and expand its reach across various industries, providing environmentally sustainable and effective solutions for fire suppression.
IFSJ Managing Editor Duncan J. White sat down with Jim Dickinson, Executive Vice President – Global Sales at Fireaway Inc. to delve into the latest developments and focuses of Stat-X, highlighting their commitment to safety and environmental sustainability.
Can you introduce yourself and your role?
Fireaway Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, MN, USA, and we manufacture a range of environmentally friendly aerosol fire suppression solutions.
Fireaway is more widely known by the brand name Stat-X. We are a privately owned company headed by Lance D. Harry, P.E., CEO and President, who joined in 2018.
During the last five years the company has grown rapidly as has the adoption of aerosol technology.
The board has continually invested in the company the most recent highlight is our newly streamlined and more efficient production operation.
I joined Fireaway at the beginning of October 2023 as the Executive Vice President of Global Sales.
I have been transitioning into this position over the recent months which has allowed me to get a better understanding of our solutions as well as getting to meet our current distributor partners and the headquarters team in Minnetonka.
How has Stat-X’s approach to fire suppression evolved over the years?
The market has changed over the years, the phase down of Halon in the late 1980’s because of environmental issues and the signing of the Montreal protocol brought forward a range of new fire suppression solutions, inert gases and chemical clean agents.
The addition of aerosols to the EPA SNAP listing a few years later meant that companies started to look more seriously at aerosol fire suppression as a viable environmentally friendly alternative.
Listing and approvals all followed, as well as a global set of standards such as UL 2775, Fireaway has always been at the forefront of gaining a range of global listing and approvals for all the various vertical sectors we work in.
A good example of that is our addition of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) certificate of approval (COA) for our pre-engineered marine fire suppression solutions.
As we move forward some further important milestones took place, the signing of the Gigli Act in 2016, the AIM Act signed in the USA in 2020 restricting the use of HFC’s and then more recently the announcement surrounding the concerns of PFAS in these chemical agents which resulted in 3M exiting the suppression market.
All of these issues have created a gap in the market for a cost effective, environmentally friendly fire suppression solution and the wider adoption of aerosols technology has meant an increase in market share.
What recent innovations has Fireaway introduced?
Twenty twenty-three has been an incredibly busy year for Fireaway, prior to my joining in October, the sales team was expanded with additional fire suppression professionals in Europe and Asia Pacific and our engineering team has grown by three new members to support our ever-increasing global distribution partners and OEM’s.
We announced the introduction of the UL and ULC approval for our new Stat-X 1000T unit which is our largest thermal or manual offering, as previously mentioned we added the U.S.
Coast Guard approval being the first aerosol manufacturer to achieve this listing.
We also held our global distributor summit after the NFPA conference in June, with partners flying in from around the world to hear about our new developments and solutions.
What sets the aerosol fire suppression technology apart from traditional fire protection methods?
Less maintenance, 15 year service life, less economic impact, less footprint, environmentally friendly with zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), zero Global Warming Potential (GWP), and zero Atmospheric Lifetime (ALT).
Are all the attributes for a Stat-X fire suppression that set it apart from other suppression solutions.
What are the current focus areas for Fireaway in terms of product development and market expansion?
We work across several different verticals, however the ESS and BESS market, and renewable energy market including wind turbine protection accounts for a large segment of our business.
We have seen huge growth in other applications such as marine, CNC machine protection, transportation, and electrical cabinet and room protection.
Could you provide insights into the diverse industries and applications where Stat-X systems are currently used?
I think it would be easier to list where we don’t operate, a full list of our industries and applications can be found at www.statx.com.
How is Stat-X addressing fire safety challenges in emerging sectors, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy?
We are already operating in those sectors.
Aerosols are widely adopted and seen as first choice of protection by many original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) and end clients.
The fact that we offer a sustainable long-term solution is an attractive offering.
Can you discuss Stat-X’s global presence and any recent collaborations or partnerships?
We recently opened the UAE office as the next step of increasing our global presence.
We already have sales presence in Asia Pacific, Europe, and now the Middle East.
Recently, we signed a private label agreement to work with Sea-Fire Marine to promote the aerosol into the marine leisure craft market.
What should attendees from Intersec look out for from Fireaway?
We are launching a new product at Intersec, it is unique in that it will be our smallest offering that can be used within a battery casing, or electrical cabinets.
You will also be able to meet our industry experts who will be on hand to talk about all our solutions and current industry trends.
Looking towards the future, what are Fireaway’s goals for innovation and market expansion in the fire and safety industry?
In a widely changing market and with the adoption of aerosol technology globally, Fireaway Inc. is seen as the global leader for innovation, so we intend to continue that path of growing our product range of sustainable fire suppression solutions with the introduction of new solutions that meet specific industry requirements.
