Archive for the ‘announcements’ Category

FRC Summer Food Drive

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018

Earlier in the summer FRC’s own Lisa Radesco started a program to encourage employees to donate food to the Long Island Cares Summer Food Drive. The Summer Food Drive is a tradition of the Harry Chapin Food Bank (which the folk songwriter from Long Island founded one year before his tragic death on the Long Island Expressway in 1981) and promoted by our local business association, HIA-LI. Donation boxes were set up around our facility to collect non-perishable food. To extend our outreach a bit we have set up a partner page at YouGiveGoods.com where you can purchase food for donation to the cause online. Our online goal is a modest 200 lbs.

Click the image to donate!

When you shop online, YouGiveGoods will email you a tax deductible receipt and all donations will be shipped at the close of the drive directly to the charity. Visit our page frequently to check our progress.

Drive ends on September 15th 2018
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Congratulations Nate Berry!

Wednesday, May 9th, 2018

Nate Berry, FRC IT Manager, was recently awarded a plaque and gift card by the Long Island Emergency Vehicle Technicians for his years of dedicated service to the organization. He was recognized at their February 15, 2018 meeting by officers and members for his dedication and numerous contributions including website work, speaker’s certificates, meeting minutes and overall support for the group.

Awesome work and congratulations Nate!

Pictured below are LIEVT President William D’Allessandro, Nate & LIEVT Vice President John Manetta.

New SPECTRA 950 LED Perimeter Light

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

A new UltraBright LED Perimeter light by FRC has been revealed at FDIC this year designed specifically for Emergency Response and Commercial Vehicles.

The SPECTRA 950, with 5,000 lumens of light projected at 170 degrees illuminates directly below and around the vehicle and immediate work area. It’s complex optical design is engineered for unmatched performance! Perfect for surface mounting around the apparatus and requiring no cut-out.

• Voltage: 12-30V
• Amperage: 2.5 – 5 A
• Rating: IP68
• Operating Hours: 50,000+

The unique SPA950 pattern at 8′ height aimed horizonally (0 degree inclination)

After 16 years Charlie Manoogian, technician, retires

Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

FRC celebrated the retirement of Charlie Manoogian who was a technician in our electronics department part time for about 14 years and full time for the last 2 years. Charlie was familiar with many of the older FRC products and was frequently called in to investigate the more difficult problems because he was such a great troubleshooter.

Always active, Charlie organized FRC participation in the annual Long Island Pedalers For A Cure 42 mile cancer ride every year until that organization disbanded, actively fund-raising, helping participants to train for the ride, helping fix flats, and even providing some bicycles! Charlie will surely be missed at FRC! He and his wife plan to continue their active lifestyle playing raquetball, bicycling, and boating in Virginia.

LIPC Gallery – sorry, we don’t have pictures from every year!

Barney Loughlin, FRC friend, has passed away

Monday, May 1st, 2017

It is with great sadness that FRC informs you that a long time friend of FRC, Bernard (Barney) M. Loughlin, has passed away. Barney was one of the Great Generation, a World War II veteran, a 74 year member of his local fire department and proud of his Irish heritage. Barney was so much more than these simple facts to a great many people but here we’ll try to relate his history with FRC which goes back to the very first Fire Research product advertised in 1968.

At that time Barney, a Sayville firefighter, was struggling to establish a printing business. One of his projects was a monthly magazine aimed at volunteer firefighters called Smoky. Barney once joked later that Smoky didn’t have much of a chance to succeed given that many firefighters of that time couldn’t read. The magazine was well written and covered a wide range of topics relevant to the fire service from recent fires to legislative actions and of course it included advertisements by local businesses.

Jack McLoughlin, the founder of Fire Research (and no relation to Barney) was working to establish Fire Research and was operating out of his basement. He called up Barney to place an ad for one of his new inventions in the next issue of Smoky. Neither of them wanting the other to know how meager their respective businesses were at the time they each happily agreed to meet at a diner in Barney’s town of Sayville, NY. That meeting at the diner wouldn’t be the last as Jack and Barney formed a friendship which would continue for nearly 50 years.

The very first advertisement for a Fire Research product appeared in the July, 1968 issue of Smoky for a Fire Research Preconnect Sensor and is prominently displayed on the back page of the magazine. This wasn’t the only Fire Research product in that issue, either. While it isn’t credited to Fire Research, there is an extensive article in the issue about a pump simulator then just installed at the local fire training academy which is easily recognized as an early Fire Research product. A last connection to Fire Research is found in the back of the magazine as an advertisement for an MC Products (yes, the “MC” is from McLoughlin) water level gauge which you might not have known was also invented by Jack.

Barney was also an inventor in his own right and as a volunteer firefighter he was driven to invent devices that would make that vocation safer. His Ladder Beacon and Safety Beacon were strobe lights designed to be mounted on a ladder tip or used to spike or chock open a door and provide a means of signalling the location of the exit. Barney attended fire shows for many years demonstrating his devices and often shared booth space (and occassionally a hotel room!) with Fire Research. Fire Research engineering was involved in some of the re-designs of his products over the years, and Fire Research technicians and assemblers were sometimes involved in their production.

Hearing his name today, most folks who knew him will immediately think of Loughlin Vineyard. What many once considered a folly became a viable business over the years. During the period of the vineyard’s humble beginnings Fire Research’s company picnic was held there. Nate remembers giving the kids tractor rides on Barney’s Ford 8N and some may remember Barney’s horse and donkey (both now buried near the barn). Barney and Jack later collaborated for several years on a special Fire Research wine which many in the industry may remember as bottles of it were often given out around Christmas time. Many Fire Research employees fondly remember helping Barney pick grapes around harvest time.

Attached find a copy of an article about the vineyard which ran in the New York Times Sunday June 26, 1994
and Barney’s obituary in Newsday, Sunday, April 30, 2017 pg. A15

BarneyLoughlinObit

BarneyVineyard_NYTimes1994