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Made in Washington: Blaze King - Making clean heat |
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Written On: July/August 2007 |
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Written By: by Daniel Brunell |
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Few things are more comforting than a warm fire. Even today, with so many gadgets to make our lives easier and entertain us, many are still drawn to its comforting glow. To many of us a fire may seem a luxury, but it is still an essential part of the human experience. One of the companies that fulfill this need is Blaze King, an AWB member since 1996.
Located in Walla Walla, Wash., Blaze King has handcrafted wood stoves since 1977. Since its inception as a manufacturer of wood fire boxes and fireplace inserts, Blaze King expanded its line of products to include gas fireboxes, gas inserts, wood furnaces and boilers. From the beginning, they were challenged to provide products to customers who demanded high-performance stoves. As with many challenges, this would become an opportunity.
Cleaner, longer, more efficient
With the rise of environmental awareness in the 1960s and 1970s, people became increasingly concerned about the emissions generated by wood stoves used to heat homes. Partly in response to federal clean air legislation, many manufacturers and consumers started turning to cleaner-burning propane and other gas-fed stoves. In an effort to serve the still-strong wood stove market and avert potential problems with oncoming federal regulations, Blaze King began researching ways to clean up the emissions of the wood stove.
"Companies in the industry could go one of two ways," said Chris Neufeld, vice president of Blaze King. "They could either design their stoves to burn hot enough to burn off the emissions, or have a catalytic converter inside the fireplace to clean the emissions." Almost the entire industry decided to go with the hotter-burning stove route. Only Blaze King decided to forge ahead with the catalytic converter. "We saw that catalytic converters were very successful in the automotive market," said Neufeld. "We felt that the other route—the hot-fire method—would make a stove inefficient and burn too much wood."
During the 1980s, Blaze King developed and refined their catalytic converter technology. In December 1984, Blaze King received the very first Wood Stove Certification from Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality, one of the most stringent air quality standards in the nation. By 1992, Blaze King’s catalytic wood stoves were gaining a reputation for improved efficiency, long burn times and low emissions. Today, with tighter emission standards around the nation, Blaze King wood fire products still make the cut.
Blaze King wood stoves and fire inserts are considered to be among the best available. Even though half of the stoves that Blaze King sells are powered by gas, they take special pride in their wood stoves for the innovation and technology they represent. With the jump in gas and oil prices, wood stoves are making a comeback in many markets. However, there’s more to Blaze King than just technological innovation. Of key importance are the people who make these products possible.
The power of quality control
One of the things that Blaze King’s 50 employees pride themselves on is quality of their products. Each stove is handcrafted. Every weld, grind, solder, crimp and cut into the steel and every layer of black, heat-resistant paint is applied by hand. "The handcrafted care with which our stoves are made not only improves the quality of the product, but also the look," said Neufeld. Most of Blaze King’s employees have been with the company for more than 10 years. All of them take pride in the quality and long-term reliability of Blaze King’s products.
Quality control is everybody’s job at Blaze King, but the final quality check comes down to one particular person—Inspector 9, Betty Truean.
"When I was asked to take over running the U.S. operation in March 1998, the very first thing I did was meet with all the employees," said Neufeld. "It was during that meeting that I pointed to Betty Truean and said, 'Betty, you’re the last one that sees the finished product before it ships to its new owner. You have the right to shut down the entire production line if each and every stove is not absolutely perfect.' Well, since then, Betty has more than kept her end of that bargain." Approaching her fifteenth year with the company, Betty is not one to let something slip through the cracks or ease off on quality. It’s this same commitment that everyone at Blaze King has, and will continue to have for years to come.
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