Painting SCBA bottles and selling for new!

[Firefighter430]

If a fire equipment suppier was grinding old static test dates, stripping old paint, and repainting 2200 psi alum. SCBA bottles to sell as new, what dangers could that present to fire department buying these bottles.

[Dalmatian90]

Please be advised that on August 1st, 2001 at the fire hall in Simcoe a 2216 psig, 30 minute SCBA all aluminium bottle manufactured in 1976, failed explosively while being refilled on a cascade system.

The resulting detonation was heard for blocks and destroyed the filling station, damaged a nearby apparatus, blew out a portion of a concrete block wall, did damage to miscellaneous equipment in the area, and threw the firefighter operating the filling station approximately 20 feet. The firefighter operating the fill station was ambulance transported and examined at the hospital but very fortunately was not seriously injured.

http://www.oafc.on.ca/committees/Hea...A_failure.html

This is the U.S. NIOSH warning on bottles using 6351-T6 aluminium alloy that was involved in the above incident:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/3al_run.html

If you have 6351-T6, all of which are older than 1989, they should be retired, IMHO.

[bobsnyder]

In addition to Dal90's points, all of which are serious enough...

SCBA cylinders are subject to Federal (DOT) regulations concerning testing and age at which they become unsafe (by regulatory standard) and must be removed from service. As such, I would imagine that tampering with testing records is a Federal crime.

Were I in a position to know about such activity, I'd be on the phone to an office of the DOT (or some other appropriate State or Federal authority) immediately asking them to open an investigation. I'd figure that I was both helping to stop criminal activity and protecting my fellow firefighters. Come to think of it, I'd be helping to stop some a**hole from profiting from placing firefighters at risk of injury or death by reporting this activity. I'd feel pretty good after that call, too.

Just a suggestion...

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Originally posted by Firefighter430
If a fire equipment suppier was grinding old static test dates, stripping old paint, and repainting 2200 psi alum. SCBA bottles to sell as new, what dangers could that present to fire department buying these bottles.

It endangers the lives of the firefighters and the public they serve.

It's called fraud...and the company should be put out of business and the owner sent to prison.

If in fact this is happening...

You should spread the word about this fire department supplier.

The Attorney General of the state should be contacted and criminal proceedings begun.

[PuffyNPFD]

Agree with Gonzo. Find him, arrest him, jail him. He is a mutt who should drag from the back of the truck.