A fire-sprinkler technician works on the installation of a jockey pump.

Mark Neal (left), special hazards manager at Impact Fire Services, LLC’s Denver location, stands with Bill Conner, Impact Fire’s general manager in Colorado.

Impact Fire Services, LLC (Impact Fire), a full-service fire protection company, provides installation, maintenance, monitoring and retrofit of fire safety systems throughout the United States. Although the enterprise prides itself in self-performing most work, up until last year it lacked the ability to offer special hazards solutions in the Denver market. Meanwhile, the Denver area’s Fire Protection Concepts, Inc. (FPCI), a company focused on special hazards systems, had over 10 years of detection and suppression experience keeping people and assets safe.

A New Partnership

In September 2018, the two companies combined forces to provide Denver with a complete package of fire-suppression options. “Impact Fire is who we are now. We do everything—fire alarms, fire sprinklers, fire extinguishers, kitchen hood systems as well as special suppression systems, which is my expertise,” says Mark Neal, former owner of FPCI and current special hazards manager at Impact Fire’s new Denver location.

Impact Fire provides much-needed life safety and fire-suppression systems in various types of facilities, including assisted living, education, government, health care, hospitality, industrial, multifamily residential, property management, restaurant and retail. Buildings and spaces requiring special hazards capabilities include: heavy industrial facilities, computer rooms, CT scan or MRI rooms in medical facilities, telecommunications centers, manufacturing facilities, storage vaults, museums, libraries and gas stations—basically any location containing equipment that could be damaged if water is used to extinguish a fire.

Environmentally safe and clean alternatives, engineered systems for fire suppression include clean agent, foam, dry chemical, carbon dioxide and water mist systems. “By acquiring FPCI and bringing them under the Impact Fire umbrella, we are now a one-stop fire protection service provider for customers throughout the Colorado market no matter what type of systems they require,” says Bill Conner, Impact Fire’s general manager in Colorado.

Depth of Knowledge

Certified technicians, engineers, project managers and experienced staff at Impact Fire can design, install, inspect and maintain fire protection and life-safety systems and products. “In Denver, we have approximately 60 employees, but we have the backing of close to 1,000 people—including experts in different fields across the country—to call on. The depth of knowledge that we can tap into is unique,” Conner says.

Upper managers at Impact Fire, having worked in the field themselves, are part of the 1,000 accessible team members. Leadership personnel have been known to work side by side with field staff to their amazement. “I have a depth of knowledge that I can bring to our team in Denver, and we’re excited about training our people to offer a larger service offering. We want our people to know they can reach out to us and have access to any needed training, so they can reach their full potential,” says Benjamin Fowler, Vice President of District Development.

Those working in the field are welcome to contact executives and receive technical help. Impact Fire endeavors to have everyone in management, supervisory or sales positions have field experience and not just book smarts. The firm strives to make sure that everyone has a hands-on understanding of the fire and life-safety business.

Good Character Exemplified

“We take a lot of pride in not just having highly qualified people but people with good character—a core value of ours,” Conner says. One example is Dave Ebaugh, an operations manager in charge of the fire alarm projects and service side of the Denver operation.

“Not only are we impressed with Ebaugh’s ability and knowledge having been in the Denver market for over 25 years, but this man is a volunteer firefighter,” Conner says.

Oftentimes, Ebaugh will go to a job site and put in seven or eight hours of programming, coach a local sports team or participate in his son’s Boy Scout troop and then go back to the office and take care of his managerial responsibilities. It’s not uncommon for him to get called out on a fire where he lives in Brighton, Colorado, spend six or seven hours taking care of a fire all night and then be back to work the next day. “So my point is, we’ve got guys throughout the organization who are not only good at what they do and very experienced, but they are also pillars of their communities,” Conner says.

Reaching Out

“We’ve got all kinds of community service and charity projects going on across all of Impact Fire’s operations throughout the country. Today in Denver, we’re focused on fully integrating our two businesses and making sure our operation is sound before we can get out into the community the way we typically do across our offices,” Conner says. “We look forward to combining the work Neal and his crew have previously participated in and defining how we want to give back as a combined team.”

“My wife, Jacqueline, is the President of the local Salvation Army and has donated much of her time to this important organization,” Neal says. “The FPCI employees were involved in fundraising for that charity for the past seven or eight years as well, and all those proceeds went back into the local area. Going forward, I think Jacqueline will continue her involvement with the Salvation Army as a part of Impact Fire.”

DIstrict Autonomy

Today, Impact Fire maintains over 17 districts across Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah and Vermont. Impact Fire strives to allow each district to manage its own market because each state presents its own set of life-safety regulations.

“We are a large enterprise but instead of putting out a blanket protocol—this is the process; this is how it’s going to work; this is how you’re going to manage your field—we allow each district to function the way that fits their region,” Fowler says. Operating under this methodology boosts a positive work culture as each area takes responsibility for the way they function.

“Decision making is kept on the local level with just keeping superiors in the loop. That helps us to adapt to things very quickly,” Conner says. Often there’s a stigma in American culture about big corporations not being very personal and processes taking a long time to get things done. “We are large, but we take pride in the fact that we do not operate with a stereotypical corporate persona,” he adds.

A Welcoming, Family-Like Culture

Fowler reinforces this concept by saying: “I believe that for a company our size, we definitely feel like we are still family. We are pleased with the assimilation of Neal and his crew into our family dynamics.”

“The way Impact Fire has smoothly integrated our small special-hazards group into the company and established the whole acquisition process has exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone better, and we’re excited about what’s to come in 2019,” Neal says.