Ipswich Bay Glass holds high-rise glass training for Cambridge and Somerville Fire Departments

Cambridge, MA Ipswich Bay Glass (IBG), one of the largest commercial façade companies in the Northeast, recently held a high-rise glass training exercise with the Cambridge and Somerville Fire Departments. The need for training arose due to the evolving city scape in both municipalities. As high-rises continue to be built at a scale that has not been seen before, there were concerns on the part of the Fire Departments to understand how to best interact with high-rise glass. Representatives from Ipswich Bay Glass and captain Patrick Halloran from the Somerville Fire Department coordinated the training session that took place at Northpoint in Cambridge.

“As more of these buildings go up with even bigger profiles, we need to understand how to interact with the glass without injuring ourselves, the people we’re looking to rescue or the pedestrians on the street below,” said captain Halloran.

Mockups of structures commonly seen in both cities were provided by IBG at the site. IBG’s Charles Moniz, director of sales and estimating, Mike Ahern, field superintendent and Dylan Amore, safety supervisor, led the training. The group reviewed the different types of glass façades and best practices for interacting with each one. The firefighters then tested a variety of tools to identify the best ones to safely break, cut and remove the glass panels.

“The opportunity to help train firefighters made perfect sense since safety is our biggest priority at IBG. Working in conjunction with the Fire Departments to develop best practices is essential to high-rise glass safety for citizens and first responders,” said Moniz.