Boston and Rockland, MA – Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral today announced that more than 175 electronically monitored fire extinguishers were installed in two of the Department’s correctional facilities – the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay and the Suffolk County Jail on Nashua Street, both in Boston, Massachusetts. The extinguisher monitoring technology, en–Gauge® was developed and installed by Rockland, MA-based MIJA, Inc.

“By installing the en–Gauge electronically monitored fire extinguishers we are enhancing the life safety of our inmates, staff, volunteers, visitors and other prison–related personnel,” said Cabral. “en–Gauge will ensure that our fire extinguishers are always where they should be and ready for use in the event of a fire emergency,” Cabral added.

en–Gauge allows the fire extinguishers to be tied into a stand–alone monitoring system located in Central Operations in both facilities. The technology monitors for three items – presence: is the fire extinguisher in its appropriate location, pressure: is the extinguisher fully pressurized and operational, and obstruction: is there anything blocking access to the fire extinguisher. If any of these characteristics are out of order, the device immediately signals the security panel alerting officials that there is a problem to address.

More importantly, whenever someone removes an extinguisher from its cradle or cabinet or blocks an extinguisher, Central Operations is immediately alerted so they can quickly determine if there is a life safety event – such as a fire or theft – taking place. “Already we are seeing the technology’s positive impact”, added Special Sheriff and Suffolk County House of Correction Superintendent Gerard Horgan, who stated that the technology recently alerted Central Command when a fire extinguisher was blocked.

Electronic monitoring of fire extinguishers is also recognized by the two national code bodies in the United States – the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Codes Council. Each of these bodies allows electronic monitoring in lieu of 30–day physical inspections – saving facilities from the once labor and time intensive job of manually inspecting each device.

“We do everything we can to maintain safety and security in our facilities”, said Cabral. John McSheffrey, Vice President, Business Development of MIJA, Inc. stated, “The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department is a leader in adopting this technology. Not only are they the first correctional facility with en-Gauge; they are also the first government building installation in the country as well.”

About the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department
The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department maintains public safety for the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop and Revere. The Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay is an eight building facility housing adult male and female inmates convicted of crimes with a sentence of 2½ years or less. This decentralized, direct supervision correctional center is comprised of 32 separate housing units to which inmates are assigned in accordance with a comprehensive classification system. Since 1992, the House of Correction has steadily increased its population from 832 inmates to as high as 1,900 in 2000. The Suffolk County Jail on Nashua Street opened in 1990 and houses 700 pretrial detainees in 13 different housing units.

About MIJA
MIJA Inc., with facilities in Massachusetts and Mexico, commands a major share of the fire extinguisher pressure gauge market in the United States and is considered a visionary for growth in the fire protection industry. MIJA’s commitment to quality and vigorous approach to helping customers develop products and markets has made the company the established leader in design, engineering, and manufacturing of over two thousand styles of high quality, low cost pressure gauges, with six hundred Underwriters Laboratories listings. This same commitment makes MIJA a trusted supplier to the compressed gas, medical instrumentation, pneumatics, personal recreation, and home health care industries. www.mija.com.

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