Security camera systems allow for residents and business owners to provide police with detailed suspect descriptions and information about what happened where and when. Police departments across the country struggling with budget cuts may not have the time and resources to pursue a criminal investigation if there is no video surveillance evidence to assist them in their investigation. Security camera systems may become a necessity for businesses and homeowners who want to get the most out of a stretched police force.

“In May 2011, the city received the results of an efficiency audit that suggested the Phoenix Police Department could save substantial money if police eliminated more than 700 positions, including sworn officers.”

“This month,Phoenix police Cmdr. A.B. Smith began hosting community meetings at each precinct to hear from residents about reducing the number of patrol officers.”

Are you or your business going to wait until it is too late?

Your water is typically distributed in one direction: from the water supplier to the consumer. It is possible, and not all that uncommon, for this water flow direction to be changed by various hydraulic conditions causing water flowing from the consumer to the water supplier. This is process is called Backflow. This water can be from non-used systems containing stagnant water or irrigation systems which may be contaminated with fertilizers, pesticides or other objectionable materials.Think of a simple garden hose with a fertilizer / pesticide tank sprayer attached to it. The hose and tank lay out in the summer sun, heating the water inside the hose and tank. Through thermal expansion the pressure in the hose increases higher than the normal city water supply. The contaminated hose water is then pushed back into the water source, your homes plumbing and the public water supply. This is why it is important to always keep the spigot valve closed when not in use.

Testing of Backflow prevention devices are required to be tested annually to ensure that they are functioning properly. Mechanical backflow preventers have internal seals, springs, and moving parts that are subject to fouling, wear, or fatigue. Also, mechanical backflow preventers and air gaps can be bypassed.  A visual check of air gaps is sufficient, but mechanical backflow preventers have to be tested with properly calibrated gauge equipment.

For most people fire extinguishers are invisible red cans on walls,  never looked at,  rarely considered. fire-extinguisher-in-use. To some, fire extinguishers are the joke in a funny story about cooling beer in college or the laugh from the time they shot one off that drunken night.  But in hundreds of businesses and non-residential structures every day in America they are the difference between a minor fire problem and a major disaster.

Yes, you read correctly, about 600 times a day fire extinguishers put out fires in non-residential structures in the United States and many more around the globe.

The Facts

According to the most recent NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) data1, in 2008 U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,451,500 fires.  These fires resulted in 3,320 civilian fire fatalities, 16,705 civilian fire injuries and an estimated $15,478,000,000 in direct property loss.

Of these fires 112,000 were responded to in commercial or municipal buildings.  Of the over $15 Billion in property damage, more than $3.811 Billion took place in these non-residential structures.  This represents an average loss per reported incident in non-residential / commercial structures of over $34,000.

These facts, pure and simple, don’t tell the story of the true value of fire extinguishers to our society.