Optsy, 1 International Blvd, Mahwah, NJ 07495, US

W.J. Malone Associates was founded by Bill Malone in 1960 for the express purpose of providing fire protection consulting and contracting services to commercial, industrial and residential users throughout northern NJ. Bill launched a career in fire protection in 1952 when he joined the Factory Mutual Engineering Division ( now FM Global ). After completing a comprehensive training program he was assigned to the New Jersey office as a field engineer making fire inspections, mainly at industrial risks. These inspections covered all types of fire hazards, but in keeping with Factory Mutual's long history of reliance on automatic sprinklers as the first line of fire defense, the emphasis was on evaluating probable sprinkler system performance vs. the hazard involved and in making sure that all components of the system were in proper working order. In 1955 Bill was promoted to District Hydraulics Engineer where he worked with public water supply officials to improve supplies for fire protection and designed private water supplies for those sites where public water was not available. This was the era that hydraulically designed sprinkler systems began to appear and Bill became involved early on with the calculation procedures that were then done by hand as affordable computers were not yet available. Finally, in 1957 Bill was elevated to the post of District Chief Engineer. This involved training of new hires, providing continuing education for the seasoned field engineers and participation in the development of new codes and standards. About 80% of the work load was related to automatic sprinklers. Why all this talk about Bill and Factory Mutual? Well there is a point to it, and it is that during his tenure at FM Bill observed that many of the sprinkler system and fire pump plans submitted by contractors for FM approval had serious errors and omissions. Often the proposed protection was not adequate for the hazard. And so it was that in 1960 he reasoned that there was room in the crowded field for one more contractor -- one who would do it right -- one who would adopt the high standards learned at Factory Mutual -- one who would not compromise good fire protection under any circumstance.

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