Circul-Air Corporation Marks 40th Anniversary
The month of May marks the 40th year of activities in the international fire service by The Circul-Air Corporation. The corporation’s long career in marketing fire hose maintenance equipment began as a supplier of electro-mechanical hose dryers in the days when hose was dried “the hard way” or, sometimes not at all. The usual procedure at that time was to hang it in a tower or place it on an inclined rack. The first method involved a lot of tough work in hanging wet hose and potential injury to firemen from an occasional falling coupling; towers also wasted lots of heat. The slanting racks required turning each length as the exposed jacket side dried to permit the damp contact side to dry. Either procedure kept costly hose out of service, requiring more standby lengths.
Hose in short supply
At the approach of World War II, hose was in great demand and in short supply and, critical material orders could not be processed without obtaining federal priorities. This gave meaningful sales appeal to the company slogans “Guarding America’s Hose Supply” and “Better Hose Care With Circul-Air.” The performance of the early models, that kept hose in service at all times, found quick and lasting support in municipal, industrial and military fire departments.
Following its patent grants and development of more sophisticated models, the corporation engaged in an extensive research and development program which produced the now popular Roto-Jet fire hose washer—a device as nearly automatic as such a machine can be and which now completes the full package of hose care products, including storage racks and hose handling tables.
In 1947, because of the impact that the elimination of hose towers had made in so many new fire structures, CirculAir published the first volume of “Fire Station Design.” This collection of ideas, plans and renderings for better housing of equipment and personnel was compiled from material submitted by architects, chiefs and technical writers affiliated with the fire service. Interest in its coverage of all phases and needs of modern fire companies spread quickly and a second edition soon followed. Six more followed. The 116-page Volume 8 can be ordered by sending the coupon shown on the inside front cover of this issue of Fire Engineering.
Involvement with fire service
In another area of fire service support, Circul-Air has been deeply involved with the Great Lakes Box 15 Club. One of the functions of this club was to provide an evening of entertainment for the members of the Great Lakes Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs at the annual IAFC conference. This “evening” had been so well received that at a board of directors meeting in 1965, officers of the IAFC asked Circul-Air to explore the advantages of organizing a national, nonprofit group of manufacturers and suppliers.
The purpose of the new group would be to take over some of the responsibility for entertainment that the host chief carried at the annual IAFC conference. Response was excellent. The group formally organized and plans were made for its first activity at the 1966 conference in Boston.
Officially named the Fire Equipment Manufacturers and Services Association and popularly referred to as FEMSA, the initial membership of 27 firms peaked to 34 the following year. FEMSA’s annual entertainment continues to be one of the highlights of the IAFC conference. It relieves the host city of considerable expense and responsibility and brings all attendees and suppliers together in a single activity. FEMSA night, in turn, minimizes the practice of having individual hospitality rooms. Membership offers many other advantages to all who participate in FEMSA’s activities. Applications and information relative to joining FEMSA may be obtained from the association’s secretary-treasurer, Dick Bugbee, ADT Security Systems, 1 World Trade Center, New York, N.Y. 10048, or its president, Stan Lattner, Bi-Lateral Fire Hose Company, 3200 W. Market Street, Akron, Ohio 44313. The 1980 entertainment at the Miami Beach conference should be a recordbreaker.
