Why keep an old and new fire system operating at same time when doing a major building addition . Instead eliminate the old one and combine them.

It absolutely amazes me how many alarm company  specifiers when designing a new fire system for a building addition will install a new fire panel and system and then keep the old  fire panel still operating in the original section instead of eliminating it and combining old and new technology together into one comprehensive operating system.
I just did this at a major food distributor  when I installed an addressable5808 Silent Knight  fire system and then eliminated the old traditional  Edwards panel they had and I added those 10 zones to the fire system . Why would I keep the old Edwards system still operating it makes no sense.
But how do you do it you might ask . Very simply use your brain for something more than a hat rack.

 So lets look at a conventional panel a 10zone panel has 10 zones of smokes pulls heats etc and 4 audible loops. OK how do I combine them.

First the audible loops  these can be made to work by means of a simple NAC extender  Booster like a SK 5495
power supply which has 4 loops in it.  attached to one of  the addressable  panels  audible loops so first problem solved . In the picture below you can see on left 2 new boxes to take the old fire panel on rights zones and horn loops as I was in process of transferring wires testing circuit and then cutting them down and dressing them once I was sure they worked properly

OK what about the 10 zones some with smokes . OK Silent Knight makes a SK Monitor10 a 10 zone module you can put the pull stations and heats on  for the

 2 wire smokes they make a special single  SK Zone or  multi zone  monitor module SKZone6  . which allows 2 wire smokes to work on the addressable system as well

Yes you will need to add some extra power wires to work with these modules but you can pick it up directly from the Fire signal booster panel so there you have it problem solved. old system gone ad old components working on new system and as the old stuff goes bad it can be updated later just like I am doing.

A New Fire Alarm Installation and NO Official Fire Inspection What??? How lives are being put at risk in PA.

Yes it absolutely amazes me how lax building codes are here in PA . despite the passing and enforcement of the Uniform Construction Code passed back in 2004  which was to improve standards of construction and inspections.  Yes building codes must now be followed and inspections do take place by certified inspectors but not where they need to be done and instead these towns focus on making sure handicapped rules are followed instead of are the Life Safety Systems going to function are the fire walls really fire walls and they have not been improperly penetrated etc.

Take 3 cases where I have installed Fire Alarms in 3 towns  in  South Western Pa. and no official ever inspected or tested those fire systems.

Case 1#Liberty Boro

The  Fire Alarm I installed at a new Family Dollar which was built in an old shopping center in Liberty Boro which is next to McKeesport .in 2006
I go to town hall get info to install system and permit which involved submitting a stamped plan by a design professional. I install the system and when the project manager for Advanced Construction Services  called for final inspections he was told he just needed the NFPA Forms  filled out  for System inspection and completion  there was no inspection by the boro they took it all by form I filled out that everything was installed per code and what was called for on the print.
They never even asked what level of competency I had to even install systems. I could have installed anything signed the form and they accepted it.I went to local Volunteer fire dept and told them I installed a new system and this was a brand new Silent Knight 5208 panel they where probably not familiar with would they like to do a company tour to familiarize them selves with the system. No never got one returned phone cal even after talking to a fire officer.

Case 2# Harrisburg PA.

Once again absolutely no interaction with fire officials  just install a sprinkler monitoring system at a Family Dollar in a shopping plaza . They did not want plans  and never tested it and to make matters worse the stores sprinkler system was turned off and not functioning when I got there and I had to turn it on. .Contacted Fire dept and officials nothing  no inspection and now Family Dollar is refusing to pay there monitoring fees to central stations there accounts have been terminated at several stores  and fire officials have still done nothing about it even after being contacted again. I contacted the state Fire Commissioner about this he has no enforcement powers and he said he would advise them about situation and I have not heard back from any one as far as i know there is no fire protection at any Family Dollar store I have done.

Case 3#
 Clinton Pa.
New Life Church where I installed a fire alarm with voice evacuation once again absolutely no tests or inspection by local authorities and no interaction with local fire depts they just do not care and that was same thing sprinkler company experienced which shocked them no one was coming to test there  system.

Yet  all the screaming and carrying on by fire  and public officials we need better codes and enforcement  etc etc. and it is nothing but lip service and the fire service has the audacity to question me when I say they're there own worst enemy yes they really are and these 3 cases prove it.
how many times when installing systems I have tried to get even the local fire dept to come on site see whats going on even right here in my own community and nothing no one ever shows up but they scream and carry on like little girls and run to the fire marshal when something goes wrong with a system they wanted nothing to do with and now look like jack asses when they can not turn it off.
sorry I have absolutely no pity for those who talk big and do nothing. like my old Biology teacher use to say " Heap big  smoke no fire"

30 years later no one knows ? Who Killed Billy G.

Billy  G.was a kind hearted soul he lived in an old van  along Old Leechburg Road in semi rural  Plum Boro  at Paglianos Auto Body which has since changed names and owners  .He would  Always come out and great you with a cheerful smile when you brought him a carrot or apple  .
But you see Billy G. was not a person he was in fact a Billy Goat a very large blond one at that who kept the grass neat and trim in front of the business and he was kept on a long chain

and walked among the many old vehicles that sat in the front yard which as you can see by the current picture have all been removed. It was a cold winter night when Billy G. Was attacked and killed the apparent victim of a hit and run even thou his chain would not allow him to get that far down on the road. The plum police  took a report and there was a big splash in the local paper including in big letters spray painted on billy G.'s Van he called  home  " Who Killed Billy G. " but know one ever came forward and a deliberate case of animal cruelty never went any where else.
Yet all these years later it seems those involved might still be hurting animals as there have been consistent reports over the years of horses ,donkeys etc being hurt by being deliberately run over or shot in the eastern section of Allegheny County and Westmoreland and Indiana county's.

We can only hope there is a special place in Hell for people who hurt gods creatures  be it 2 footed human or 4 footed with fur.