Summary

U.S. Fire & Safety Co, Inc., (USFire), Cleveland, OH, and its owner, Elijah L. Wheeler II, were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Cleveland for violating hazardous materials regulations governing the testing and certification of compressed gas cylinders. Wheeler and USFire were both ordered to pay $13,347 in restitution, and the company was barred from conducting tests on compressed gas cylinders. Failure to perform accurate periodic hydrostatic retesting of gas cylinders places the lives of firefighters and other users at risk. In January 2005, Wheeler and USFire pled guilty to charges of falsifying the testing or certification of over 600 carbon dioxide and compressed air cylinders, including firefighter air packs, between 1995 and 2002. PHMSA assisted in this investigation.