When it comes to suppressing fire, time is of the essence both in getting customized pipe and fittings critical to successful fire-suppression system installations during construction projects and extinguishing blazes themselves. Jeff Sancricca, The Macomb Group Fire Protection Supervisor, ensures that his team has the resources to help contractors deploy their systems in a timely fashion. He’s been with The Macomb Group for 10 years and very much enjoys being part of the Fire Protection Division.
What does the Fire Protection Division do?
This division provides licensed fire protection contractors and engineers with a diverse mix of the highest-quality and safest fire protection products from top-notch manufacturers. Sancricca and his team provide the necessary fire sprinkler system components used for suppressing fires in buildings over 10,000 square feet. These include multifamily housing units, industrial facilities, and commercial buildings.
“We sell the materials — pipe, valves, fittings, and sprinklers — as well as the fabrication of those fittings to the installers,” Sancricca explained. “We don’t do any installs ourselves, we just sell the pieces of the puzzles.”
Fire Protection Division experts work with contractors to create miles and miles of fire suppression piping for buildings. The team then fabricates all the customized pieces and sends them to contractors with step-by-step instructions. Finally, contractors install the sprinkler and fire suppression systems throughout the buildings.
Trusted fire protection professionals
They can trust that the puzzle pieces will fit together perfectly thanks to Macomb Group experts like Sancricca with years of experience.
“I’ve been in industrial distribution for 33 years,” he said. “It’s amazing: You always need pipe, valves, and fittings!”
And although those constants remain, some things in the fire fab world change. In his time working in fire suppression distribution, Sancricca has seen great improvements in technology and fabrication techniques.
“It’s been a transition from years ago,” he explained. “Twenty years ago, contractors would do most of the fabrication and we would just sell them fittings and pipe to do it. Now, changes have really taken hold as contractors put the onus on distributors to do the fabrication for them.”
Ready for anything — and any deadline
No matter the job size, the Fire Protection Division represents The Macomb Group’s commitment to being “Big Enough to Meet Your Expectations and Versatile Enough to Exceed Them.”
“We’re not afraid of work; we’ll take as many jobs as we can get,” Sancricca said.
And, as with any jobsite, contractors rely on schedules — so the Fire Protection Division pros do, too. They are always aiming to keep contractors on schedule as they fully understand the important role fire suppression plays in safety.
“You don’t want to put safety on the backburner, it’s an important part. You’re talking about not only property but lives, too. Fire suppression systems are an integral part of that — saving money and lives,” Sancricca said. “The fire protection part is integral because it has to be operational before they can get a Certificate of Occupancy, so we’ll keep our guys in the fab department working double shifts to get the materials out to the jobsite on time.”
Passion for fire suppression
In the Fire Protection Division, Sancricca and his colleagues have been busy with the Detroit-area resurgence, working on supplying the materials and fabrication for hotels, buildings, automotive plants, schools, and universities. Supporting the region and local community are important to Sancricca and his team, making them especially proud of their work to help revitalize the city; but it’s not all they take pride in.
“We have quality fabrication, we deal with quality manufacturers, and we have on-time delivery,” Sancricca explained.
He believes The Macomb Group offers the best of both worlds — they are big enough to offer safe, cost-effective solutions but also small enough to feel like family and provide great customer service. Still, Sancricca returns to safety.
“Your critical application is our mission! We do it to keep everyone safe out there,” Sancricca said.
