SP Fire Research of Sweden and Norway, an advocate for fire-safety legislation and regulation for school buses, motorcoaches and transit buses, announced it has opened U.S. operations based out of Raleigh, N.C.
Joey Peoples, formerly the manager of the commercial ground vehicle group at Kidde Technologies, Inc., will head SP’s U.S. headquarters. He has 12 years of experience focusing on automatic fire detection and suppression technology systems for buses, and has presented at numerous conferences. He is a contributing member of the American Public Transportation Association’s Bus Safety Working Group.
Peoples will also present at the upcoming STN EXPO in Reno, Nev., this July.
In October 2012, SP Fire Research published new international standards for fire suppression systems in engine compartments of buses and motorcoaches, called P-mark SPCR 183. Proposed to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, it certifies that a fire suppression system has been fire tested in a well-defined and objective way, as well as to realistic fire hazards that can occur on a bus.
The P-mark also includes that components in the fire suppression system have been tested for harsh environments. And the fire suppression manufacturer’s factory production control (FPC) is reviewed by independent, approved third-party auditors as part of the overall quality assurance.
A representative of SP Fire Research told STN that it hopes to introduce a similar recommendation specifically for school buses to the National Congress on School Transportation for its 2015 standards and specification meeting in Warrensburg, Mo.
