A Hot Event in the Windy City: GE Insurance Solutions Customers Attend Inaugural Fire Prevention Forum.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. -- Risk managers who oversee significant physical assets gained valuable and practical insights into fire prevention at the recent Global Asset Protection Fire Prevention Forum, co-sponsored by The Insurance Leadership Institute of GE Insurance Solutions and Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

The event gave attendees a unique opportunity to learn, share ideas, network and witness a live fire test at UL's facilities in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois.

"The forum was truly an embodiment of our promise to our customers," said Tim Heinze, Product & Field Operations Leader for the Global Asset Protection (GAP) unit of GE Insurance Solutions. "We've made a commitment to share our expertise with our customers to make a difference and add real value to our relationships."

The event's headliners were John Frank, P.E. and Loss Prevention Center of Excellence Leader at GAP; Pete Willse, P.E. and Director of Research for the GAP team; and Martin Pabich, P.E. of UL. Their presentation, titled "Solving Warehouse Fire Problems with Fire Testing," set the stage for one of the major events of the forum: starting a fire in a 15-foot stack of pallets in a 30-foot warehouse, with cardboard boxes containing product on either side of the pallets.

The test was a success. Twenty-one sprinklers operated, the fire was contained to an acceptable area and results from the test addressing warehouse storage will help update the code for NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler Systems.

Other sessions addressed the following issues:

--fire modeling in warehouse applications

--advances in extinguishing systems and other applications of fire modeling

--commodity classification tests

--introduction to calorimeter testing and an actual calorimeter test (calorimeter tests are typically conducted to help determine the appropriate level of fire protection required for a given space)

--simulating fire modeling through computer programs.

The list of distinguished presenters also included:

--Paul Hart, P.E. and Field Leader of GAP

--Pravinray Gandhi, PhD and Director of Business Development for UL

--H.C. Kung, PhD and UL Director of Business Development

"GE Insurance Solutions has had a long and productive relationship with Underwriters Laboratories," said Bob Petrilli, Chief Operating Officer of the Property & Insurance Services unit of GE Insurance Solutions. "We've worked together to help our customers meet their needs and keep them on the cutting edge of fire prevention techniques."

Participants spent the second day discussing the fire test and other topics relevant to their businesses. This time was used to put practical knowledge to use by discussing problem solving applications and sharing best practices.

The Forum ended with Pete Willse's discussion of building construction, which used to be the primary defense against fires. The session helped attendees understand the complexities of fireproofing, roof fire classifications, wind uplift and other related issues. In light of the multiple hurricanes in the United States this year, knowledge of wind uplift is critical for insurance underwriters.

Response to the conference was extremely positive. In a post-event survey, nearly 95% of attendees said they would attend future conferences and recommend the conference to others.

"We're pleased with the success of this year's event, and we're already planning next year's forum," said Joseph Kelly, Marketing Leader of GE Insurance Solutions' Property Insurance & Services team. "Our customers have told us what they liked and what they'd like to see more of, and for that reason we expect the GAP/UL Fire Prevention Forum to be even better in 2006."

GE Insurance Solutions (NYSE:GE) protects people, property and reputations. With more than $48 billion in combined assets, the GE Insurance Solutions group of companies is one of the world's leading providers of commercial insurance, reinsurance and risk management services. Combining deep practical risk expertise with GE's business acumen, our dedicated professionals in offices around the globe help customers understand and manage risk more effectively.