Total (fire protection)
| TOTAL Feuerschutz GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1912 |
| Seat | Ladenburg |
| management | Jürgen Joseph, Bernd Volkmann |
| Branch | Fire protection technology |
| Website | www.total-feuerschutz.de |
The TOTAL Feuerschutz GmbH is a manufacturer of fire extinguishers known in Germany. The company manufactures and sells portable and mobile fire extinguishers, individual extinguishing systems and extinguishing agents.
history
Founded as Internationale Feuerlösch-Gesellschaft mbH , the later TOTAL-Gesellschaft presented the first “quick-dry fire extinguisher” in Berlin in 1912.
This extinguishing device was patented in 1912 by the imperial patent office in Berlin under the patent number "277836 vz B. 1912 compressed gas fire extinguisher with an extinguishing gas used as a pressure medium". It can be seen as the forerunner of all modern, mobile fire extinguishers and thus revolutionized fire fighting .
Due to the global economic crisis of 1921/22, companies in the fire extinguishing industry also faced considerable economic problems. Despite the difficult circumstances, the production of the total fire extinguisher continued in Berlin. To open up new markets, fire fighting vehicles with total extinguishing systems were produced for the first time in 1923 .
The Komet process for the production of extinguishing foam , patented by Clemens Wagner in 1932, was further developed by Total.
In 1936 the administration and production of the Total company was relocated from Berlin to Apolda in Thuringia . However, after the Second World War , the expropriation by the Soviets was a severe blow to the company. In a “night and fog” campaign, unfinished products, patents and drawings were transported from the Apolda plant to Oberschefflenz in the Rhine-Neckar region . In 1948 Walter Becker joined the company, who after extensive property purchases moved the company headquarters to Ladenburg .
In Ladenburg, the Total products were improved and further developed. For the first time, fire extinguishers with hoses and fire pistols were manufactured. Fire fighting vehicles with fully automatic fire extinguishing systems , which were used in industrial companies, but also at airports , ensured full order books.
From 1958 radiation measuring devices were built in Ladenburg in order to equip the fire brigades with the devices in times of nuclear armament. The development of fire trucks for airports also continued. An airport fire engine with 12 tons of extinguishing powder was presented for the first time in 1969 . In general, powder products are increasingly in demand, which is why the powder tower was built in the Ladenburg plant in 1972. Around 1000 people now worked in the company. Total was one of the largest employers in Ladenburg.
Total also found its way into the rescue services of the shipping industry . The fire-fighting cruiser "Weser" was equipped with 30 extinguishing nozzles in 1976, so that ship fires on the Weser and in the Bremen harbor were usually quickly brought under control.
Until 1987, investments were made in new buildings at the Ladenburg site, but also in the fire fighting training area. The Krupp Group had already acquired the company in 1980 . For economic reasons, the production of fire extinguishers was relocated to the Cologne location in 1987 .
Since 1990 the company has been switched from sales through dealers to direct sales . In 1994 the Feuerlöschgeräte GmbH from Neuruppin (FLN) was taken over, in 1998 the shares of the Neuhaus Feuerlöschgeräte GmbH followed.
After the takeover in 1990 by the company Wormard International , which in turn was incorporated into the US conglomerate Tyco in 1991 , the globally operating Irish conglomerate Johnson Controls became the new owner after the merger in September 2016 .
Today the company supplies modern rechargeable fire extinguishers with different extinguishing media. The second major pillar is the activity as a service provider for everything to do with fire protection .
Historic total fire extinguisher
ABC fire extinguishers from Total in the 1980s
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Individual evidence
- ↑ Steffen Lausmann: The invention of fire extinguishers. Villingen volunteer fire brigade, accessed on December 12, 2019 .
- ↑ 'Extinguishing foam then and now' Feuerwehr-Magazin special issue 2006 "Fire fighting with foam", page 9
- ↑ a b Axel Sturm: Many ideas for extinguishing came from Ladenburg. Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, September 25, 2012, accessed on May 26, 2020 .