The BILCO Company, a subsidiary of AmesburyTruthâ„¢, recently announced that its line of Colt Fire Protective curtains has received UL10D approval for the containment of fire in commercial buildings. Products are now available with 60-minute and 180-minute fire protective ratings.
Colt Type FA electrically operated fire curtains seal off an area which is on fire to prevent it from spreading throughout a building. The curtains are held in the up position by means of a low-voltage 48VDC motor and deploy automatically to seal off an opening upon a loss of power or by receiving a signal from a fire detection system. Battery back-ups and control panels can be supplied with the curtains and a simple switch raises the curtain back fully to the ready position.
UL 10D is a relatively new standard that covers the evaluation of fire protective curtain assemblies intended to provide supplemental, passive fire protection as part of an engineered fire protection system. The standard allows fire protective curtains to be used for nonstructural separation and are not intended to be substituted for structural hourly rated partitions or opening protectives that have been tested for fire endurance and hose stream performance.
In addition to the UL 10D standard, U.S. fire protection authorities have also recognized the need for fire protective curtains in commercial building applications. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently updated the NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, to reflect the growing popularity of fire curtains as a means of fire containment.
Since 2014, BILCO has been the exclusive distributor for Colt’s commercial building products throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition to the fire and smoke curtains, Colt manufactures a line of natural ventilation and passive smoke control products. The Coltlite, a natural louvered ventilator, and the Firelight, a glazed skylight ventilator are two of Colt’s many products that provide highly energy-efficient solutions for environmentally friendly building designs.
For more information on the Colt smoke and fire curtains or BILCO’s other commercial products, call (800) 366-6530 or visit www.bilco.com.
