Fire monitoring and fire detection technology is always looking to speed up response times to fires and to reduce the damage a fire can cause. Within the last decade, we have seen some incredible technology advancements in both fire monitoring and fire detection. Below, we will cover some of the technology we are seeing that can help prevent and reduce the amount of damage caused by a fire.
It might seem like conventional wisdom to dump as much water as possible on a fire, but water can damage property just as bad as fire. Water mist systems smothers the fire while reducing the amount of water damage caused by the system. Mist actually creates a larger surface area of water, which smothers the fire faster. This also creates more steam; steam releases energy quickly, which reduces the temperature of the fire and puts it out faster.
Mist systems can even be installed in one general area of the building. This can help save valuable equipment in specific departments with a water mist system, while the rest of your warehouse is sprayed down with a normal water system.
On the other end of the spectrum is ESFR. These systems need and use a lot of water. These fire detection systems can dump upwards of 100 gallons per minute of water on a fire.
An early suppression fire response system is built into the ceiling of a building. When a fire is detected, it will dump high pressure water straight down to suppress the fire. This limits the fire down to its origin. The system is best used for large warehouses where water won’t damage property.
Before this point, we have talked about systems that help limit the potential damage a fire can cause. Integrated voice evacuation and messaging systems help protect people. This fire monitoring system uses pre-recorded messages to alert people when a fire occurs.
The integrated voice system can be programmed to give specific instructions over speakers to people and employees on how to evacuate a building during a fire. These instructions can be localized, meaning if a fire occurs in a certain part of the building, the system will be prompted to provide that specific set of instructions to avoid that part of the building. The instructions can help ensure that people evacuate in an orderly fashion. The system responds quickly––within a fraction of a second, and has built-in “fail safe” technology to ensure that the system continues to work under multiple circumstances.
Not all fires produce large visible flames. Video image smoke detection can help detect fire when it isn’t apparent that one is occurring. Video image smoke detection can be a helpful fire monitoring tool. The system can detect differences in contrast, color and brightness of smoke in a room to detect if a fire is occurring. Once it is detected, the system will send an alarm signal.
This system is best used for bigger warehouses or outdoor facilities with large open spaces.
One of the coolest new technologies that is emerging is for home fire suppression use. It is a fire extinguisher that uses sound waves to put out fires. This technology completely eliminates damages that are produced by chemicals or other substances that typical fire extinguishers use. The chemical and water free extinguisher disperses sound waves that puts a barrier between oxygen and fire. Fire can’t burn without oxygen, thus, it extinguishes the fire. It’s a great way to keep fires inside of homes contained and extinguished without causing any additional damage.
If you have any questions regarding fire monitoring services, reach out to AvantGuard to see how our fire monitoring services can benefit your company.
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AvantGuard Monitoring Centers, LLC. | P.O. Box 15022 | Ogden, UT 84415 | Office: (877) 206-9141 | Fax: (801) 781-6133