Remotely Monitored Fire Alarms
All remotely monitored automatic Fire Alarm Systems now need to be registered with the Fire and Rescue Service. Find out more here.
Why have an AFA
Early detection of a fire has a significant effect on life safety as it allows persons in the premises to be alerted so that they can leave the area of the fire whilst the escape conditions are still relatively safe. Normally the discovery of a fire is reliant on the people present to discover and give warning of fire. This may not be adequate if a fire starts in a part of a building which is visited only occasionally, such as a store room or in premises which have been left unattended at night time.
In these two cases an automatic fire alarm system may be of great value in reducing the time between the outbreak of fire and its discovery, although in the second case, the value will only be fully realised if the system is directly connected to a central alarm station.
Automatic fire alarm systems are now available in various forms and are capable of carrying out a variety of functions, which include the detection of heat in the form of an unnaturally rapid rise in ambient temperature, smoke and the products of combustion and flame.
AFA false alarms
AFAs are extremely useful in the detection of fire, however, if they are not managed properly they may start to produce false alarms. False alarms are classified into the following five categories and are normally caused by being careless or poor maintence:
- Unwanted alarms - alarms caused by fumes from cooking, steam, tobacco smoke, dust insects etc
- Equipment False Alarms - alarms due to faults with the equipment
- Malicious False Alarms - alarms arising from a malicious use of a call point
- False alarms with good intent - these occur when an individual suspects there is a real fire and raised the alarm
- Unknown - False alarms that do not fall into any of the categories listed
Is your building having problems with false alarms? Find out how to reduce false alarms.
|