North Weald Aviation Support Services

Extreme conditions in high-risk industrial settings make firefighting difficult and dangerous. In places like airports, fuel depots, petrochemical plants, power stations, warehouses and manufacturing facilities, there is an abundance of hazardous materials that can burn, hotter, faster and longer and a greater risk of accidents, explosions and chemical leaks.

Fires can escalate rapidly and unpredictably so these sites need fire protection that performs instantly and reliably. Specialist, high performance monnex dry powder is an ideal fire suppressant for high-risk industrial settings as it delivers rapid knock-down on flammable liquid and gas fires, while also reducing long term maintenance and environmental impact.

Gary Wise, Director of North Weald Aviation Support Services, travels the breadth of the UK, setting up and managing temporary helicopter landing sites for customers such as charter companies and TV/Filming crews. The Civil Aviation Authority stipulates that all helicopter landing sites must have a dedicated fire team on hand when there are 10 or more take-offs and landings and requires that they have suitable firefighting equipment available during operations.

Gary said:

“My team and I provide fire cover at temporary helicopter landing sites and remain on standby during operations to respond to any emergency. Our fire vehicles are equipped with a range of firefighting equipment, including Monnex dry powder extinguishers which extinguish intense aviation fires quickly and more efficiently than standard powder versions.

“Six of our existing metal extinguishers were expiring so I had to start looking for replacements. We live in a throw-away society so I couldn’t get anyone to service them past five years, which was frustrating. My priority therefore was to find a cost-effective, longer lasting and more user-friendly alternative.

“I’m local to Britannia Fire and have used their P50 products before so after a tour of their factory and a chat about options, I was sold.

“When comparing Britannia Fire’s P50 Monnex to metal equivalents, there were very noticeable benefits to switching to this more lightweight, composite model. P50s are British made, cheaper, last 20 years and don’t need costly annual servicing. The fact that we can now do our own simple annual checks and there is less weight on our trucks is a game changer.

“P50s are also more environmentally friendly and can be recycled so overall, switching was a no brainer!

“The team at Britannia Fire are very knowledgeable and ordering and delivery was quick and easy. We are so impressed with the product and customer service that as soon as other extinguishers are due for replacement, we will order more.”

“North Weald Aviation Support Services Ltd has been built on trusted reliability and safety, that’s why we choose Britannia Fire.”

The P50 Monnex fire extinguisher has been independently tested and is legally compliant and safe to use in the UK, and beyond.  It is BSI kitemarked and confirms to UKCA, EN3 and the Pressure Equipment Directive. A model certified to the Marine Equipment Directive (MED) is also available, which includes the required Schrader valve for equipment used on ships, offshore platforms and marine installations.