Sample dossier 03 · public data
Commercial fire & life-safety contractors, VA–NC
Buy boxIndependent commercial fire & life-safety contractors (sprinkler, alarm, inspection) · Central Virginia + VA–NC corridor · roughly 15–80 employees · owner-operated · PE platforms excluded
- 18primary contractors
- 5call-first picks, with reasons
- 4borderline names in the appendix
- 0paid databases used
All 18 primary contractors
Every name that passed the screen, in one table. Top-five picks first.
| Top 5 | Company | Town | Est. headcount | Founded | Owner / president (public source) | Family / succession signal | Conf. | Phone | Direct contact | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic City Sprinkler | Roanoke, VA | 25–60directory range | 1971 | Melanie Obenchain (President, per SCC-derived index); McGhee family | Third and fourth generation run it (per About) | High | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| 2 | Crews & Gregory Fire Sprinkler | Midlothian, VA | 25–402020 PPP: 29 | 1996 | Gordon Taylor (President); Harry Crews (co-founder) | Co-founder in the trade since 1972, still active | High | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| 3 | J&D Sprinkler | Clayton, NC | 45–652020 PPP: 58 | 1986 | Dana, Bradley & Jason Graham (owners, per site) | Graham family since 1986; three family owners | High | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| 4 | Fire Sprinkler, Ltd. | Rustburg, VA | 20–35D&B: 27 | 1988 | Wayne G. Harris (D&B contact; manager per 2017 state filing) | Family owned and operated (per About) | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| 5 | Williams Fire Sprinkler | Williamston, NC | 40–602020 PPP: 54 | 1972 | Michael L. Chesson (President in 2003 filing; confirm) | Family-owned, majority woman-owned (per site) | High | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Fire-X Corporation | Richmond, VA | 15–40sources differ | 1967 | Wayne Pugh (President, per BBB) | Long-tenured; no family signal found | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Extinguish Fire Corp. | Fredericksburg, VA | 15–252020 PPP: 19 | 1998 | David Fleming (President); Sharon L. Fleming (Sec./Treas.) | Two Fleming officers on SCC record | High | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | C.E. Butner & Son | Richmond, VA | 10–25 ⚑ | 1968 | Not named in public sources used | Third-generation family-owned (per About) | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Lynchburg Fire Equipment | Lynchburg, VA | 10–20 ⚑ | 1981 | Terry W. Whitlock (President, per SCC record) | Single officer on SCC record | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | K & E Fire Sprinkler | Troy, VA | 10–30 ⚑ | 1999 | Keith R. Herzwurm (President, per SCC record) | Two-officer company; owner-run signal | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | T & D Sprinkler | Henrico, VA | 10–25 ⚑ | 2001first VA license | David Moore (owner, per directory) | 'Every job is owner supervised' (trade profile) | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Central Virginia Fire Protection | Spotsylvania, VA | 10–30 ⚑ | 2006 | Robert C. Breeden (Owner, per BBB) | Owner-operated | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Cascade Fire Protection | Greensboro, NC | 15–40 | 2001 | Jim & Sylvia Swayze (named on About) | Family-owned, minority-held (per About) | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | ABL Fire Protection | Raleigh, NC | 20–302020 PPP: 26 | 1977ABL group | Art Lamson (President, Fire); Lampuri family (ABL owners) | Group founder still president; family partners | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | United Life Safety Systems | Bailey, NC | 10–30 ⚑ | 2009 | Andrew Shear (co-founder, CEO); Melissa Shear (co-founder) | Co-founder couple; family-owned (per site) | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Veterans Fire Protection | Richmond, VA | 10–25 ⚑ | — | Jason Kemnitz (Owner, President); Mike LeBleu (Co-owner) | Veteran-owned; young, inspection-led | Med | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Riley Fire Protection | Goochland, VA | 10–25 ⚑ | 2012first VA license | Not named in public sources used | Owner-operated signal only | Low | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
| – | Piedmont Sprinkler Co. | Stanardsville, VA | 10–30 ⚑ | 1982first VA license | Clarence Shifflett Jr. (per trade directory; soft) | Long-tenured local shop; no succession signal | Low | (•••) •••-•••• | •••@••••.com | •••• locked |
⚑ may sit under the 15-employee floor — phone-screen first. Contact columns are locked in the public sample and filled in the paid sheet.
Call these five first
Where we’d start, and why.
- 1
Magic City Sprinkler
Family firm since 1971, now run by the third and fourth generations. Inspection and backflow testing add recurring work. Roanoke Valley anchor, mid-band size.
- 2
Crews & Gregory Fire Sprinkler
Co-founder in the trade since 1972 still sells while a second leader runs it as President, so succession is underway. 29 jobs in 2020 PPP data; dedicated inspections manager.
- 3
J&D Sprinkler
Graham family since 1986, with three family owners named on the site. 58 jobs in 2020 PPP data, a separate inspection team, licensed in NC, SC, VA and GA.
- 4
Fire Sprinkler, Ltd.
Family-owned since 1988; D&B lists 27 staff. In-house fire protection engineer, and offices in Rustburg and Chatham on US-29, right on the VA–NC corridor.
- 5
Williams Fire Sprinkler
Family-owned since 1972; 54 jobs in 2020 PPP data. Alarm monitoring and inspections add recurring lines across eastern NC. Officer data is dated; confirm leadership first.
Borderline appendix 4 names held out of the primary list
| Name | Town | Why it’s held out |
|---|---|---|
| Crawford Sprinkler Co. of Raleigh | Raleigh, NC | Confirm ownership: equity holders and any tie to other Crawford Sprinkler companies are not public. Headcount is near the 80 ceiling. |
| Threatt Inc. | Battleboro, NC | Confirm ownership: the brand dates to 1952 but the current corporation was formed in 2018. Plumbing is a large share of the work. |
| Yadkin Valley Fire Protection | Thomasville, NC | Confirm ownership: size fits, but no owner or independence signal in public sources. |
| Capital City Fire Protection | Chesterfield, VA | Class B licensee with an opaque size and no named owner; may sit under the 15-employee floor. |
A live engagement can promote any of these after a phone screen.
How we sourced this
- Virginia DPOR contractor lists (sprinkler and suppression specialties, first-license dates), company About and team pages, BBB profiles, public mirrors of SCC / SOS officer records.
- Headcount bands are estimates from public proxies (2020 PPP jobs-retained figures, directory counts, team pages), not payroll data. ⚑ marks names that may sit under the 15-employee floor.
- Excluded as platform-owned: Pye-Barker, VSC / Markel, Eagle Fire, Summit, Guardian, Marmic / Fire Solutions, SuperHero and Impact Fire brands, per public deal announcements.
- Public records don’t show revenue, inspection share or intent to sell. Owners are named only from public pages; contacts are held back for the paid sheet.
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