Our Leader
Ron Thames
CEO
Fire Service Plus (FSP) was established in 1998 with a fire-fighting product that revolutionized the firefighting industry when Mr. Ron Thames, President/ CEO of FSP developed and introduced FireAde. He holds domestic and international patents and has served on the U.S. President’s small business council in an advisory capacity.
Mr. Thames was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in nearby Fairburn. He did not go to college after graduation from Campbell of Fairburn High School. Instead his path, like many of his age, was to go straight into the workforce. His journey began as a customer service representative at Eastern Airlines. While working for Eastern, he had an idea of a product that would extinguish fires. With no formal fire-fighting training and without the benefit of a chemist degree, Mr. Thames’ idea became a reality. His laboratory was his 2 car garage, his test vial was a 5 qt. Mirro pressure cooker borrowed from the kitchen and his testing ground was a relatively small back yard. The pressure cooker sits proudly in his office today and remains his symbol of hard work and dream realization. The product was tested and used by local fire departments and received accolades for its extinguishment capabilities. In fact, the only fire department that wasn’t immediately happy with his invention was the Peachtree City Fire Department as they had made so many professional calls to the Thames back yard. Mr. Thames would manufacture the product in his garage and sell/deliver the product from the back of a pick-up truck. Confidence and sheer determination were the key drivers of the initial success and acceptance of the product.
Because of the rapid cooling effects of his technology on the crude oil and the oil well platforms, Sam Nunn, then Secretary of Defense for President Ronald Reagan requested Mr. Thames assistance in Kuwait during the 1991 oil fires. Mr. Thames is now a recognized subject matter expert within the industry and is often called upon by training facilities for his expertise in universal firefighting techniques. He was the consultant and designer of the fire system for the tunnel under the 5th runway at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. He continues to develop new firefighting technology. Mr. Thames travels approximately 150,000 international miles each year and has been a member of the million-miler club with several of the airlines he patronizes.
FireAde is currently sold in over 43 countries. From performance, effectiveness and environmental standards, there is no other comparative product on the market today. While FireAde is the signature product of Fire Service Plus, Inc. and other innovative and ground-breaking products developed by Mr. Thames are also manufactured and sold from the corporate offices and manufacturing facility located in Fayetteville, Georgia. VaporAde Plus, Mr. Thames tank cleaning product, was recently used (June 2016) for an established and renowned Railroad Company to remove Lower Explosive Levels (LELs) to a rating of zero in tank cars. TrackAde is used by dirt tracks and building developers to keep the sites moist and virtually eliminate dust. Climate Control is the freeze protected product (with food grade ingredients) for temperature suppressant. No toxic chemicals such as glycol as used in the manufacturing or ingredients.
A major component of firefighting is the product delivery system. In 2012, Mr. Thames designed and introduced his own compressed air foam systems (CAFS) and product line, Enforcer, which offers multiple application systems from a 3 gallon unit to a 200 gallon unit. CAFs expand and deliver the FireAde product to 20:1 minimally. The 30 gallon unit up to the 200 gallon unit is certified by UL certification 711. No other CAF in the market can make that claim.