Rescue Air Systems, Inc.
Rescue Air Systems, Inc., also known as RescueAir, is an American corporation headquartered in San Carlos, California. It was the first company in the world to design, manufacture and install firefighter air replenishment systems (FARS), a building-installed air replenishment system that allows firefighters to refill their self-contained breathing apparatus inside a structure during a fire or any emergency where air quality is compromised. RescueAir was founded by Anthony Turiello in 1993 and was incorporated. He serves as the current President and CEO of the corporation.
History
RescueAir was born out of the worst accident of the Los Angeles' First Interstate Bank building fire of May 4, 1988. This 62-story landmark structure was the tallest building west of Chicago when it opened in 1973. When a fire broke out on the 10th floor of the building, it took 383 firefighters from 64 companies to extinguish the blaze – nearly half of the city’s on-duty force. They used more than 600 air cylinders, each one hand carried up and down 10 flights of stairs, from and to a mobile air truck located outside the building. The need for air was so acute that firefighters were breaking windows to get it – a dangerous and difficult act. Within weeks of the fire, California fire service professionals gathered in Los Angeles to gain insight into the cause of the fire, and find ways to streamline future firefighting operations. The group immediately identified the process of shuttling air bottles up and down the stairs as a major strain on manpower and a big impediment to efficiently fighting the fire. It was characterized as a misuse of highly trained, very capable firefighters. These observations led one member of the group, Fire Marshal Louis Vella of the Redwood City Fire Department, to envision a standpipe for air that could be permanently installed inside a building, just like a water standpipe. Vella created a prototype system and patented the technology behind it. The first FARS was flawed. Piping to and from the exterior connection, where a mobile air truck would access the system, was buried underground and not properly protected from corrosion. early systems were tested with water, which left residual moisture in the pipes and affected air quality. Anthony Turiello, a mechanical plumbing contractor working in the San Francisco Bay Area, is credited with making the FARS technology viable. Turiello bought the original FARS patent and founded Rescue Air Systems, the first company focused on the design and building of FARS, in 1993. Early advocates of FARS include Ronny J. Coleman, former California State Fire Marshal and expert in firefighter education and training and Jack Murphy, a nationally recognized high-rise fire expert and chairman of the New York City High-Rise Fire Safety Directors Association. One of the first buildings to be equipped with the system was the headquarters for software giant Oracle, a 15-story office building in Redwood Shores, CA.
Growth
As word of the new technology spread, numerous municipalities voluntarily amended their building codes to require installation of FARS. These cities include San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Phoenix. Other cities have required FARS by special mandate, to help small departments cope with potential emergencies in large structures, such as the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield, OR. Soon after, international code bodies followed. The International Association of Plumbing Mechanical Officials led the way in developing code language by establishing a Firefighter Air Replenishment Systems Task Group. The National Fire Protection Association steered this code development. IAPMO IGC 220-2005 was adopted into its Uniform Plumbing Code in 2006 and is contained within Appendix F. The document was written to provide a framework for FARS adoption. In the fall of 2013, the International Code Council voted to include a code for FARS in the 2015 International Fire Code under Appendix K101.1. This followed a 2-year vetting process by members of the national fire service and health and safety organizations. Adolph Zubia, Chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Fire and Life Safety Section, representing the ICC Fire Code Action Committee, was the proponent of Appendix K. Nearly all of the major professional associations and life safety organizations within the fire service supported the FARS appendix, including the IAFC, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and many more. There are now more than 350 buildings across the United States equipped with FARS. RescueAir has worked with most of the country's top architectural, engineering and construction companies to integrate their FARS systems into major projects, among them Infinity Towers in San Francisco, the Electronic Arts headquarters in Redwood Shores, CA, the San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, CA, the Department of Justice building in Sacramento, CA, the PeaceHealth Medical Center in Springfield, OR, the Arizona Public Service headquarters in Phoenix, AZ, and the Promenade Condominium project in Boynton Beach, FL. In addition, RescueAir has donated FARS systems to numerous fire departments and educational institutions for training purposes, including the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute at the University of Maryland, the Glendale, AZ Regional Training Facility, and the training facility of the Phoenix Fire Department.
Products and Services
RescueAir designs and manufactures FARS for high-rise buildings, large horizontal structures and tunnel systems. The company offers two types of FARS, which enables local fire departments to require systems that meet their operational needs. One type is the Rupture Containment System (RCS). Using the RCS, the firefighter removes the air cylinders from the SCBA harness and refills it in a rupture containment chamber, or interior air fill station, that surrounds the entire cylinder. The second type is the Rapid Fill System (RFS), which allows a firefighter to refill the SCBA while it remains on the firefighter's back using an interior air fill panel. In addition to its design/build services, RescueAir also offers installation through a national network of certified installers, testing, certification and maintenance services on FARS systems in accordance with local code requirements and provides training programs for members of the fire service.
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