HoldRite HydroFlame Pro Feature Article in May/June Issue of Green Building & Design Magazine
HoldRite’s HydroFlame firestop solutions keep water, smoke, and flames from spreading—and they’re easier to install and more cost effective than other methods.
By Margaret Poe, gbdmagazine.com
When you think of fire protection, devices like smoke detectors and sprinklers come to mind. These products are, of course, essential to alerting inhabitants and combating the flames when a fire breaks out, but they’re only part of the solution. Another critical component is passive fire protection. Unlike smoke detectors, which alert people to a blaze, or sprinklers (active fire protection), which put out the flames, fire stopping (passive fire protection) solutions work behind the scenes. “It doesn’t put the fire out, but it stops fire, smoke, and poisonous gases from moving to other areas of the building,” says Chip O’Neil, vice president of business development at Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC). Last year, RWC acquired HoldRite, which has been developing solutions for commercial and residential construction since 1982. HoldRite is an industry leader in creating passive firestops for plumbing and mechanical contractors.
How Firestopping Works
So how do these solutions fit into the construction of a building? O’Neil explains it like this: A building is often divided into multiple fire-rated compartments created by fire-rated assemblies like walls and floors. These rated assemblies are designed to prevent a fire from spreading from one area of a building to... READ ENTIRE ARTICLE