Paranormal Investigation Sites you can rent for an over nights evenings fun . But are they Safe ? It depends

 Yes its that Spooky time of year for visiting Haunted Houses and Paranormal Attractions and while 

Halloween Haunted Houses are strictly regulated in many states because they're considered an Amusement Attraction .

Many Paranormal attraction places are not or are poorly regulated .

If officials even know they exist and are open to the public. 

Because many times they do not know about it . Its not like they put a sign outside.

One such place in Ohio   I visited was a very old wooden home up on a hill with difficult road access  and they allow overnight guests  and there was one smoke detector that did not appear to even be working. 

To make matters worse there is often  no overnight host Paranormal teams are on their own. 

If this house is truly possessed and has demons etc. with this type of activity Fires have been reported but not at this location so far. .

The house  I visited in the daytime also has no emergency lighting or lighted  exits or fire escapes 

I did not see a fire extinguisher as well or a CO detector .

I now most AHJ would have no problems shutting it down till at least minimum codes are followed 

but there are those AHJ just don't give a dam and looking around that town appears to be the case.  

I would not stay at this home in fact I would not stay overnight at many of the paranormal places i have toured during the day . 

If you have a paranormal attraction in your town be aware of it and do the right thing.

 

Be Aware of possible problems with these 24 VAC to 12 VDC Converters used with Camera Systems made by MG Electronics

 When changing over and converting older Surveillance Camera Systems  there is often the need to convert the voltage being used . Older systems Pre Digital Chip days  which used tubes where mostly run using 24 Volts AC while almost all modern Analog and Analog HD systems use 12 volts DC power.

This means  changing out the master  power supply for all cameras if doing a full change out . 

But what if it is only one camera you are changing? 

That's where Voltage converters like the one made by MG Electronics makes  sense

It converts 24 VAC to 12 VDC and is a great option for one camera being changed 

However I recently encountered a dangerous situation where one of these units for unknown reasons melted down.

As you can see it started melting down and could have possibly caused a fire.

I have been in touch with manufacturer and not heard back from them yet.

But I suspect a power surge caused this as 24 VAC power to it was just a simple plug in transformer

with no filtering or regulation . But was plugged into a surge protected strip. 

If your using these converters and see cameras stop working check it out you may have a problem.

The Giant Killers Organazation GKO / T Promo Thunder Promotions Website Revisited by Alan Colombo

 A good friend of mine Al Colombo had a website called  The Giant Killers Organization

It dealt with many controversial and hot topics about our government and New World Order

I found a 2004  CD full of his articles and have posted them up on a separate blog.

 

I ask you to come to your own conclusions as to what Alan found and reported on 

 

Click on link below to go to the site .

 

https://tpromothegiantkillers.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-commentary.html

Thousands of Recalled Chemetron Heat Detectors sill out there providing no protection from fire

 I wrote several years ago about the dangers model 601 602 etc  Chemetron Heat detectors pose how the terminals displace from the heat detectors very easily and will keep it from working 

 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7038769389877256204/8437399952097669144?hl=en

 

 

As can be seen above in a recent bad heat detector found by a fellow alarm dealer  .

They are not expensive to replace but there where so many of them put in field and hidden away in all kind of crawl spaces it will be many more years till they are all found and replaced.

Jeff Zwern has a very valid concern when it comes to UL allowing Remote Monitoring from operators homes

 Ever since Covid 19 UL has allowed for Remote Central Station  Operator monitoring from their homes . 

He has very valid concerns back in 1986 a elderly couple montoired alarms and did police disatch from 

their home and below is article I wrote about how they where attacked in their home

 

If you ever saw the  Clint Eastwood movie Thunderbolt & Light Foot
it is about  a group  of criminals planing and executing a big bank robbery  by way of a home invasion to tie up the bank president so he can not notify police and distracting and then tieing up the guy monitoring the alarms at a central monitoring station as well.

Well a very similar plot played on in spring of 1986 in Burgettstown. except with an interesting twist.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19860331&id=BYNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4373,8541348

An elderly couple who happen to monitor panic buttons etc for the Mellon bank in their home also happen to be the radio dispatchers for the Burgettstown  and several other small town Police  are invaded and tied up and then the Mellon bank in Burgettstown is sacked and thieves and money is gone never to be traced a total cold case. In what the time was a very rural area till it started being developed in 90's.

So the question who pulled it off obliviously some one had to know the couple where doing the monitoring 

so was it a town resident involved? or town resident who may have been arrested and talked about how easy the pickings would be while in prison? 

How about the people who serviced the radios or the alarms ? Or could it even have been a well organized nationally traveling ring of criminals who looked for these opportunity's ?

Of course the first question is why where this elderly couple doing dispatching and monitoring alarms in there home in the first place?

Well before massive UL Listed Central Stations with fortifications and security systems in place where popular many unusual places served and still serve  as monitoring points including Telephone  Answering Services and even Gas Stations  out west .

 Most very soft targets and criminals knew it and took advantage of it and these crimes where carefully kept from the press and TV  when they where attacked. When I first was involved with alarms and had other dealers monitoring my accounts I thought they had hardened facility's they did not they where using answering services with no protection needless to say I found out  how easy it was to just walk in and take a place over and now use a very good UL listed service 

Today attacking a Central station is futile with back up systems in place and fully supervised communications and alternative central station set  ups at the flip of a switch . But there are still plenty of the small soft targets out there if you know where to look. But criminals have gotten much more sophisticated when it comes to eluding capture and why risk getting your plan blown when dealing with 2 sites when you can hit one be on an interstate in 5 minutes and be gone. 

Some one some where knows what went on in Burgettsown that day and some one may eventually pay for the crime but the clock is ticking away.

 

These Fire Lite Panels often leave buildings unprotected because of confusing buttons on the panel

 Hate to think how many times after a Fire Lite MS-2 or MS-4  panel goes into alarm some one try's to reset the panel  who is not familiar with it or is not authorized in first place and end up bypassing zones leaving a building with out full protection.

Because of the confusing way buttons are on the panel .

People see the Alarm Silence Button and instead of hitting the red button with silence on it  they hit the number 2# button not realizing they just bypassed Zone 2#  because they don't read the panel legend  and they are hurrying to silence the panel. 

What makes it even worse many of these small panels are not being monitored so it can go days before some one gets notified there is a problem because the trouble lights are often ignored. 

This panel needs a redesign because sooner or later their is going to be a major fire allowed to spread because the zones where unknowingly bypassed and trouble signal ignored

Sheetz Convenience Stores are using Blue Lighting to discourage Heroin drug usage in Rest Rooms instead of confronting the issue.

Sheetz Convenience Stores in my area have started using Blue Lighting in Rest Rooms to prevent Junkies from Shooting up Heroin and other drugs and then possibly overdosing in them. Currently store in New Kensington Pa. has it .

The blue lighting keeps junkies from being able to see their veins and shooting up. 

So it then becomes a big inconvenience for Diabetics , those who use  Urinary  Catheters ,Colostomy Bags etc  and others who need discretion or out of the way place change their clothes . Because unlike in the picture the restrooms are very dark with  this new Blue Lighting .

In essence they are violating ADA rules because the restrooms can not be properly used by Special needs individuals with out great difficulty. 

So they solve one issue and take the cowards way out instead of confronting it and keeping undesirables out. 

This is also bad for business because anyone who sees this lighting and knows what it is now knows you don't want to stop at this store for fear of Junkies who hang around this area breaking into their vehicles or Car Jacking them. 

 I usually avoid this store and use a Getgo further up the road but had to stop out of urgent need  and glad I did not have a accidental bowel leakage and would have needed to clean myself up as I have had to many times since going thru surgery for Stage 4 Colon Cancer .

Sheetz really needs to rethink this policy and get rid of the undesirables in a different manner .

 

Antique & Flea Market Malls a new Concept where you can shop many vendors .But some times safety is not a priority

 When you drive thru the old City's and Towns of Pa , WV and OH   you often come across an old store front that has been renewed and turned into an Antique Mall or Emporium  or some times the word Flea market is also used. 

They are a really neat concept and fun to shop at or just walk around and see all the neat stuff for sale Its like walking around a mini museum with a mix of new and used merchandise plus overstock and estate sale items There are individual vendor Displays and most places have 100 or more vendors selling all kinds of items 

Its a great concept individuals ho want to sell stuff sign up for a space that they rent and the store does the rest . Thou some shops require you come and help sell or stock 1 to 3 days a month and rented spaces go for $100 to 350.00  plus depending how much you want to display and sell

It is a WIN Win for community the old building is preserved and put back on the Tax Roles instead of sitting and decaying. 

But there is a problem.

While some buildings have Proper Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs  and clearly defined exiting pathways and you can see in the pictures I have posted some of these malls have none or very limited Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs 

Many of these stores are also Multi level some as much as four

(4)floors   when you count the basement .Some are 1 floor large places built in steel sheeting  buildings 

Many are in big old Former Furniture or Dept Stores and Super Markets or even old skating rinks and former dance halls.

Some have Full Fire Protection  systems. But many do not and if they do they are very limited and of dubious working ability.

Some have sprinklers  that are newer generation while some have old unmaintained systems or none at all. 

So this is where the problems begin.

In the pictures above as you can see  this particular mall in a community next to where I live they have no Emergency or Exit Signage  and no fire protection just a couple hand extinguishers and if a fire did break out  or power goes out when open in evenings , it would be a nightmare for the shoppers and staff who would be trapped. 

 I am also sure Local fire company's have no idea whats going on inside as well as they have not done company tours .

That's the problem there are state codes to be followed but many small towns rely on 3rd party inspections  and or local officials who do little enforcement. 

When I visit these stores I am always looking around where are the exits  ,stairs etc.

Because it is too easy to get turned round and get lost. 

I very much encourage these stores but at a minimum they need Emergency Lighting and Exit Lighting with clearly defined exit paths and if multi level a fire alarm system to notify staff.

Update :

One such place caught Fire in Rochester Pa.  The Pickle Jar Antiques  formerly Blue violet Cafe went up in flames on 8/18/22 at 2:30 AM  when upstairs apartment caught fire 3 firefighters where hurt 

Picture by Megan Schaub