When Reacton Fire Suppression formally launched its Americas operation in January 2020, the timing could hardly have been more difficult.
Just a few months later the pandemic shut down travel and slowed business activity, leaving little room for a new entrant to establish itself in an unfamiliar market.
In spite of those challenges, the company has steadily built its presence across the region. Growth has been driven by the twin priorities of proving the reliability of its products and establishing strong partnerships to deliver them in the field.
Reacton specialises in protecting high-risk small spaces such as engine compartments, CNC machines and electrical panels.
Its systems are designed to detect and extinguish fires within seconds, using purely mechanical technology that eliminates reliance on power or electronics.
That focus has made the company a fit for sectors where downtime or equipment loss can have major consequences, including mining, waste management, transport and manufacturing.
Durability has been another defining quality. Components are engineered to perform under harsh conditions of dust, vibration or heavy use and third-party validation from UL, SPCR and other bodies has underpinned confidence in the systems.
With that foundation, Reacton has begun to secure major projects across the Americas, from water treatment facilities to large-scale mining operations.
FSJA Editor Iain Hoey sat down with Scott Starr, Vice President of Americas at Reacton Fire Suppression, to discuss how the company has built its presence, what sets its systems apart and where he sees the next opportunities.
Our specialty is small spaces. We sometimes do outlying projects, and I’ll be honest we’ve had some fun challenges, our core markets are three areas: engine compartments, CNC machines and electrical panels.
Engine compartments include heavy equipment and city buses. CNC machines are a very specialized market but large in scale and there’s strong value in fire suppression.
As tolerances get tighter, more oil is used as a cutting medium. While it has advantages, it also introduces fire risk in these very expensive machines. Suppression systems, at a reasonable cost, can help control that risk.
Scott Starr
The third area is electrical panels. We’re working on large electrical arrays in facilities ranging from shipping transfer stations, moving coal from river barges to ocean-going ships, to incoming water treatment plants for major US cities.
We’ve recently also won larger projects at two wind energy farms, but to me that’s largely an electrical hazard, with a collection of electrical cabinets in an elevated box in the middle of a field.
We’re also seeing opportunities in food processing and additional wastewater treatment facilities. These three areas comprise about 70% of our work, with the remaining 30% covering a wide variety of projects that keep things interesting.
Traditional systems are focused on large volumes. Our systems are focused on small areas. We take suppression to the next level by looking at elements within a facility where a fire is most likely to start.
Our detection works by being in close proximity to the fire source. Traditional systems rely on smoke detectors, control panels and other components that drive up cost and make very targeted suppression out of reach.
Because our systems are simpler, this is reflected in the price point which allows us to target those high-risk areas.
There’s nothing wrong with traditional systems – they’re great for data centers and large-volume spaces . But if there are specific items or spaces within that environment that carry the highest risk, we can focus directly on them.
Scott Starr
That lets us limit the amount of agent used, keep costs down and reduce damage while still being effective for the highest probability areas where fire starts.
It happens almost in the blink of an eye. A fire will start and our systems are designed to typically detect it in 10 seconds or less – usually much less. Once detected, the system is activated and the agent is released.
For clean agent gas systems, we of course follow NFPA 2001 which requires extinguishing concentration within 10 seconds, which is easy for us in the volumes we protect.
Scott Starr
With powder systems in larger or engine environments, it may take a few seconds longer, but detection is still fast.
Typically, our systems also have a pressure switch. As the agent discharges, the switch senses the drop in pressure and can be wired to take actions – shutting down a CNC machine, sounding an alarm, or shutting down heavy equipment. It can be set up for a range of responses.
That’s really it – detect the fire, respond immediately and alert that it has happened. The biggest challenge is when people try to make these systems more complicated than they are. Reacton systems are purely mechanical, using a pneumatic tube.
When exposed to fire, the material softens, pressure causes the wall to burst and that actuates the system. There are no electrics, no waiting for a sensor, no dependence on power. It’s that simple.
Our systems are among the most recently developed, benchmarked against existing competitor systems, identifying weaknesses and making improvements on systems which may have been in the market for decades yet remain largely unchanged.
In some cases our systems are larger, more durable, or more capable than competitive products, often at a better price. At first glance they may look similar to others, but the details set them apart.
We use stainless steel siphon tubes and brackets designed to withstand harsh environments such as mining.
Other components are stainless rather than brass. It’s a lot of small, technical details that combine to make these systems stronger and more reliable.
Some of it is obvious and some is a bit more hidden. We use stainless steel for our valves and other critical components.
Our ball valve isn’t a piece of cast brass sitting on top where it is vulnerable to damage, but rather it is safely integrated into the stainless body.
All of this is designed to pass durability tests. Of course, the real world is its own test, but before that we put systems through SPCR 199 and AS 5062, which has a dramatic durability factor.
Scott Starr
It’s not just us saying the systems are fit for purpose – we have independent validation through UL and SPCR. They’ve gone through a battery of performance and durability tests and we have proof these systems are ready for the world.
Listings and approvals are very important to us. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort developing these systems, but there’s a difference between us saying they’re ready and an independent body confirming it.
SPCR, RISE Institute, UNECE and UL provide that validation. Independent approvals are like a trusted partner saying: “Yes, I’ve worked with them and they meet the standard.” That independent confirmation is the reissuance often needed for customers and regulators.
One example is the water supply for a major U.S. city. All of their water intake locations and water processing facilities are protected by Reacton systems.
That covers three sites and filled with electrical cabinets. If a failure occurs, our system extinguishes it immediately and the failover system activates to keep the process running.
That ensures the city’s water supply is continually protected, which is critical anywhere, but especially in a very warm part of the country.
Another project we just completed last week involves a major U.S. mine. They have now protected the first 12 pieces of new equipment – worth millions of dollars – with our systems.
Mines don’t have spare trucks or loaders waiting on the sidelines. Every single piece is needed in operation.
These machines are complex, with intense heat signatures from engines and hydraulics and they work in very tough environments.
The spectrum ranges from protecting electrical cabinets in controlled facilities, where the systems lean heavily on their UL listing, all the way to protecting haul trucks in rugged mining conditions. In both cases, the systems play a critical role in keeping operations safe and equipment running.
Hopefully, more of the same, while always looking for unusual applications where something unique needs protection. We’ve added key strategic partners and continue evolving the systems to meet customer needs.
If we find our system works well in a specific environment, that’s great. But if installation shows there’s something missing – a different system size, a guard for protection in a certain environment, or maybe something even more creative – we’re willing to adapt.
Scott Starr
I think we are established enough now and have a strong presence in the market, but yet we are not so big that we’ve stopped listening to customers and responding to their needs.
