Short History About Halon:

When halon 1301 came on the market in the 1960s it was rightly seen as the most effective gaseous fire fighting agent ever developed. It found widespread application in the protection of data processing rooms, telecommunications switches, art and historical collections, process control rooms, and many others. However, by the late 1980s a great deal of scientific evidence indicated that the agent was an ozone depleting chemical and the Montreal Protocol of 1987 required a phaseout of new production. The fire protection industry began the search for halon alternatives. Current regulations on can be monitored at the HARC website:

http://www.harc.org

or at the EPA website:

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/fire/qa.html

If you have halon systems currently installed in your company facilities and they are located in the United States, you should know the following facts:

– You are under no legal obligation to remove systems from service.
– There is no federal legal requirement to remove systems from service by any specific date.
– You may legally recharge your system in the event of a discharge
– Recycled agent is still commonly available for fire system recharge.
– No new agent 1301 is being manufactured
– You should plan the replacement of your systems with a halon alternative.

Majestic Fire Protection can recharge Halon Fire Suppression Systems after a gas discharge and perform other maintenance tasks to keep existing systems working smoothly. We can also decommission a Halon Fire Suppression Systems and install an acceptable alternative. Since Halon Fire Suppression Systems are always evolving, it’s worth consulting a fire suppression specialist, like Majestic Fire Protection, every few years to see if a halon system is still necessary.