Taking Shape
Smoke Guard was incorporated in 1991 and operated as an independent company manufacturing smoke containment systems for the elevator opening until the RectorSeal Corporation purchased it in September 2004. In the autumn of 2009 we enhanced our product offering by partnering with a highly respected German fire and smoke curtain manufacturer – Stӧbich – enabling us to provide flexible fire and smoke curtain systems to protect a wide range of building openings.
We Started at the Elevator
In 1984, Tom Allen, a Boise, Idaho architect specializing in commercial renovations and historic preservation, became focused on the complexities of meeting life safety requirements for vertical smoke migration within the building code. The 1980 MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas (in which there were multiple deaths on upper floors due to smoke inhalation) helped to raise national awareness and reinforce concern over the dangers of vertically migrating smoke in multi-story buildings. Allen, who had been working on a series of renovation projects including a former lodge hall in downtown Boise, found that there were no officially recognized products that would satisfy code at the elevator while still allowing him to maintain an open design concept. He needed a better mousetrap. Leaving his architectural partnership in 1991, Allen developed a wholly new concept and recruited the first members of the Smoke Guard team to complete development of a code compliant smoke containment product–later dubbed the Smoke Guard system.
Small but Mighty
Given our expanding product offering and markets both nationally and internationally, we often joke about 35 people serving the world from Boise, Idaho. From the garage days when Allen tinkered away on the first elevator smoke containment system with the help of his neighbor Eric (now the VP of Technical Services) to the present professional and manufacturing staff, many employees have literally grown up with the company. We continue to research new product applications for building safety and to develop solutions that aid architects, contractors, and owners meet building code safety requirements.