Triangle Fire finds its niche in school, government work

CARLISLE, Pa..-Eight years after first going into business, Triangle Fire Protection Inc. has made a niche in designing and building sprinkler systems in government facilities and schools. The benefit, according to Mark Potteiger, president of Triangle, is that these larger contracts enable the company to pay its 20 workers well. "We are a union contractor, so we go after jobs that are the prevailing rate because it works in with our pay schedule," said Potteiger, who owns the company with business partner Frank Herr, who is treasurer and vice president. One of those projects includes a recently won contract with the Jim Thorpe Area School District to install a wet fire sprinkler system in a K-8 elementary school for approximately $260,000. The project includes 750 sprinkler heads, a wet system and a dry system for unheated areas, along with a pipe system for the fire department to hook into, said Ron Stark, estimator with Triangle Fire. Company officials expect to begin work on the project in either March or April, with a completion date scheduled for August 2003. The two phase project will involve the company roughing in the mechanical system and where the sprinkler heads will be located first before returning in the end to install the sprinkler heads. The company's largest contract to date, however, is an $855,000 project with Cum-berland Valley High School, the largest high school campus in Pennsylvania. Triangle is currently in the second year of the four-year project, which is now approaching the $900,000 mark, said Potteiger. Potteiger said when his company first entered the market, it started by focusing on smaller jobs. After the company had three years under its belt, it was able to secure larger bonding, providing it with the financial backing and the larger work-force needed to go after larger jobs, like the Cumberland Valley High School project. "Eight years later we've grown to the point where we can handle these types of jobs," said Potteiger.