“Let’s Look at the Tape.” Security Company Uses Its Own Video Technology to Catch Fire Starter (Video)

Published on 08 March 2010 by Lydia in Press Releases

After finding a scorched carpet hidden under an oddly placed filing cabinet, BrickHouse Security turned to its own surveillance system to reveal a cover up scandal engineered by the managers of the office building’s contracted cleaning company.

When BrickHouse Security employees found a large burn mark on their newly installed carpet, they immediately turned to their own high-tech surveillance system for answers. What the footage revealed was an office fire started by a cleaning crew’s shoddy equipment–a fire that could have threatened the building’s more than a thousand tenants.

When approached with questions about the incident, the managers of the cleaning company responsible for the fire completely denied involvement, even crawling around on the floor and speculating that the fire was started by a cigarette. That is, until they saw the video evidence. Oops.

The video shows the fire starting when the patched vacuum cleaner cord rubs against a filing cabinet to spark the fire. It then shows the cleaning lady bravely putting the fire out with her bare hands and responsibly calling her supervisor. When Luciano the supervisor arrives on the scene he then calls his manager. In the end, the managers decide to simply cover the spot with a giant filing cabinet mysteriously shifting to cover the stain.

“This is serious business. All it takes is one spark to start a fire that can engulf a whole room in less than 15 minutes,” said Joe Hardiman, a BrickHouse Security employee and 20-year veteran of the Rockland County volunteer fire department. “What’s worse is that by covering the fire’s source, the cleaning crew compounded the danger by a hundred fold. When you install a rug, you use cement that contains volatile organic compounds, which can hugely increase the fire’s potential for survival and eventual re-ignition.”

“They described it as bad judgment, but I would describe it more as reckless endangerment,” said BrickHouse Security CEO Todd Morris. “I’m happy that I was able to refer back to my surveillance footage to protect my employees and demonstrate who and what was at fault. A surveillance system is the type of thing that can really serve justice when it comes to evidence and providing personal protection.”

BrickHouse Security provides security and surveillance products to consumers, businesses of all sizes including roughly half of the Fortune 500, and more than 500 local and national government agencies such as the NYPD, LA County Sheriffs, and the FBI. The company and its products have recently appeared on the CBS Early Show, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, Fox News, and the Associated Press.