Fire Detection - Case Studies

Anaheim Hills, CA, devoted to preserving the natural beauty of their community, has built the nation’s first underground electrical switching station. With only a three-tiered retaining wall and metal door showing, above the substation lies a gorgeous park, complete with running paths and quaint park benches. The Park Substation is an innovation of the city’s public utility department in cooperation with the local neighborhoods, resulting in a new recreation area, rather than an uns...

In 2003, Jeffrey Energy Center (JEC), the largest coal-fired plant in Kansas, was recognized by the Powder River Basin (PRB) Coal User’s Group as its PRB Plant of the Year. Industry recognition was achieved through plant safety, plant performance, environmental achievements, and overall plant cleanliness. Over the years JEC has undertaken several projects and process changes to further improve the plant. Enhancements to the fire detection and suppression systems have been a vital part of...

Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, VA, is committed to providing quality education within a Christian environment. They are proud to represent more than 15,000 students from all fifty states and over seventy countries around the world. Their campus spans over 5,000 acres making it the largest evangelical higher educational facility in the United States. Because of the size of the property, the campus employs its emergency response team, responsible for monitoring over 80 buildings for fi...

The new Mystique Community Ice Center opened its doors in Dubuque, Iowa just in time to meet the chill that’s in the air. Home to the United States Hockey League’s expansion team, the Fighting Saints, the 3,200 seat arena is dedicated to all things ice. Since the Ice Center, like any sporting venue, may contain large amounts of people at any given time, the Local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) required a voice evacuation system to be included in the overall life safety solution...

Has the advent of “cloud computing” reduced the need for automatic fire suppression systems in data centers? There have been many discussions in the Information Technology, Telecom, and Fire Suppression industries recently regarding this topic. With data stored and backed up in multiple, different physical locations, one line of thinking says there is less need for an automatic fire suppression system. A fire or other catastrophic event, at worst, results in the loss of relatively i...

Wharton Esherick (1878-1970) was an artist who produced paintings, decorative frames, woodcuts, sculptures, and furniture. While Esherick’s work is displayed in major American museums and private collections, a large compilation of his work is found in his studio. His studio has been preserved and maintained since his death, enabling visitors to learn more about the artist’s life as well as view his work. With so many valuable artifacts and artwork in one studio, a superior fire pro...

The Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE)™ in Lafayette, LA is a state-of-the-art 3D immersive visualization resource center featuring one of the world’s first six-sided, digital virtual reality cubes, as well as the world’s largest digital 3-D theatre. This leading-edge visualization environment is powered by one of the largest shared memory resources in the world, a 4.1TB of RAM high-performance computing system. The LITE facility, a State entity governed by a B...

San Carlos, CA, located midway between San Francisco and San Jose, has been a magnet for families, due in large part to the small size and high educational value the San Carlos School District offers. To maintain this standard, the district has undertaken a large facility modernization project, affecting multiple schools. To continue the project throughout the school year, the district set up temporary housing for displaced classrooms, creating a unique and immediate need for stand-alone fire a...

The Coplay (PA) Fire Department needed to replace a 30-year-old engine and an equally aging rescue truck. But instead of purchasing two new vehicles, it decided to merge their functions into a single rig, a rescue-pumper. “We were replacing a 1986 Mack engine and a 1984 rescue squad,” says Brandyn Bechtel, Coplay’s assistant chief. “The engine was an open-cab model, and there were lots of mechanical issues with the rescue squad, and it was no longer feasible to keep repa...

In April, 2009, a financial institution located in downtown Chicago was protected from the possibility of a large fire. Earlier that evening, an electrical component in the self-contained air conditioning unit had overheated and caught fire. The AC unit was located in close proximity to highly sensitive equipment in a computer room. Fortunately, the computer room was protected with a Fike clean agent suppression system, using the gaseous chemical suppressant, DuPont™ FM-200® — d...

The Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, has a very busy radiology room for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray procedures. The different apparatuses within this room and its corresponding data control room are very expensive equipment which were protected from fire by a Halon fire suppression system. Regulation 2037/2000 We know that Halon is damaging the ozone layer and adding to the global warming problem. Therefore, the European Community has issued a regulation 2037/2000 which makes...

Fike Corporation recently earned the right to protect a large and unique library complex located in Mexico. The library is a four story structure built to house millions of literary volumes, and also includes an auditorium, administrative offices, library stacks and reading rooms. The library also boasts large centralized computer services designed to bring greater computer access to the library visitors. The unique library architecture, high-tech equipment and massive literature collection pre...

The new Mystique Community Ice Center opened its doors in Dubuque, Iowa just in time to meet the chill that’s in the air. Home to the United States Hockey League’s expansion team, the Fighting Saints, the 3,200 seat arena is dedicated to all things ice. Since the Ice Center, like any sporting venue, may contain large amounts of people at any given time, the Local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) required a voice evacuation system be included in the overall life safety solution pr...

In 2003, Jeffrey Energy Center (JEC), the coal-fired plant in Kansas, was recognized by the Powder River Basin (PRB) Coal User’s Group as its PRB Plant of the Year. Industry recognition was achieved through plant safety, plant performance, environmental achievements and overall plant cleanliness. Over the years JEC has undertaken a number of projects and process changes to further improve the plant. Enhancements to the fire detection and suppression systems have been a vital part of the p...

On September 24th, 2004 BRS-Intron, a computer company based in Visby, Sweden, averted what could have been a major disaster. Because it is a full-service company, specializing in complete product solutions, servicing and financing, BRS-Intron’s business is heavily dependent on the continuous operation of its business systems. For this reason, it chose Fike Corporation’s FM-200® (HFC-227ea) clean agent fire suppression system for the protection of its computer equipment. This fa...

San Carlos, CA, located midway between San Francisco and San Jose, has been a magnet for families, due in large part to the small size and high educational value the San Carlos School District offers. In an effort to maintain this standard, the district has undertaken a large facility modernization project, affecting multiple schools. In order to continue the project throughout the school year, the district set up temporary housing for displaced classrooms, creating a unique and immediate need...

Southern Supply Company is a wholesale distributor located in Springfield, Missouri. Southern Supply has a critical data center through which it handles all of its business activity, from shipping and receiving to accounting, for its 12 locations in Missouri and Kansas. Because it is key to the operation of its business, Southern Supply made the decision to protect their data center with a clean agent fire suppression system, rather than just a traditional sprinkler system. By choosing a clean-...

The Hampton Inn & Suites in Moline, Illinois is known for its cleanliness and comfort. Conveniently located near the Quad City International Airport, this newly constructed hotel boasts of 98 guest rooms, a fitness center, indoor pool, business center, and a breakfast area among its other services. With the help of Heartland Fire and Fike Alarm Systems, this Hampton Inn can add safety to its long list of amenities. Due to local fire codes, and the facility’s large number of rooms and...

Wharton Esherick (1878-1970) was an artist who produced paintings, decorative frames, woodcuts, sculpture and furniture. While Esherick’s work is displayed in major American museums and private collections, a large compilation of his work is found in his studio. His studio has been preserved and maintained since his death, enabling visitors to learn more about the artist’s life as well as view his work. With so many valuable artifacts and artwork in one studio, a superior fire prote...

The Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) in Lafayette, LA is a state-of-the-art 3D immersive visualization resource center featuring one of the world’s first six-sided, digital virtual reality cubes, as well as the world’s largest digital 3-D theater. This leading-edge visualization environment is powered by one of the largest shared memory resources in the world, a 4.1TB of RAM high performance computing system. The LITE facility, a State entity governed by a Board of...

Anaheim Hills, CA, devoted to preserving the natural beauty of their community, has built the nation’s first underground electrical switching station. With only a three-tiered retaining wall and metal door showing above the substation, lies a gorgeous park, complete with running paths and quaint park benches. The Park Substation is an innovation of the city’s public utilities department in cooperation with the local neighborhoods, resulting in a new recreation area, rather than an un...

Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, VA, is committed to providing quality education within a Christian environment. They are proud to represent more than 15,000 students from all fifty states and over seventy countries around the world. Their campus spans across 5,000 acres making it the largest evangelical higher educational facility in the United States. Because of the size of the property, the campus employs their own emergency response team, responsible for monitoring over 80 building...

Motorola Solutions has signed a five-year maintenance, support and TETRA digital radio system upgrade agreement with the Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania to modernize and maintain the country’s nationwide TETRA digital radio network. The network provides Lithuania’s public safety organizations such as the State Border Guard Service police, fire and rescue departments as well as ambulances and state la...

Inorbit has emerged as one of Mumbai’s popular shopping destinations with its diverse and exceptional offerings in food, fashion and entertainment. Over the last 15 years of being in business, the mall has gained a huge fan following because of the unique shopping experience one can enjoy here. The Axis EN system, which has recently received globally recognized FM APPROVED accreditation, was installed by Advanced Partners, Abhay Fire and Security Engineers, who were tasked with replacing...

The East Side Fire District, located on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene in Harrison, Idaho, took delivery of a custom-built Lake Assault Boats fireboat. Stationed at a new dock and enclosed moorage facility at N-Sid-Sen Camp and Retreat in Martin Bay, the new craft offers significant performance improvements in water pumping capability, response time, and water-based rescue operations. Highest Quality Emergency Response Our on-the-water capability upgrade was an important component of...

The Enterprise Fire Company No. 1 in Phoenix, New York has accepted delivery of a custom-built Toyne Priority Response Vehicle (PRV). The fire department received the apparatus in late November. As the department’s first Toyne apparatus, the PRV will fulfill multiple roles for the growing department, such as mutual aid backup and first response. Enterprise Fire Company’s Toyne Tailored Apparatus is mounted on a Spartan Gladiator LFD chassis with a raised 10-inch roof. Powered by a C...

The vital role that infra-red transit heat sensors can play in protecting waste management sites from the threat of fire has been illustrated by an incident at a dry mixed recycling (DMR) plant. The nature of waste recycling means that the range of materials being processed is varied. In this case a 18v lithium ion battery was shredded, with the resulting damage causing the battery to arc. With no protection fitted to the shredder outfeed, the battery was carried into a dosing bunker where it c...

Rosenbauer Germany is celebrating a pleasing milestone: On early December 2018, the 1000th AT left production at the Luckenwalde site. The jubilee vehicle was delivered to the Krefeld professional fire brigade, which intends to modernize its entire HLF fleet, and put four more identical AT into service. The vehicles are equipped with an HLF 20 adapted to the needs of the fire department and high-end extinguishing technology. The N35 centrifugal pump, conforming to FPN 10-3000, delivers a capaci...

Airport operators around the world rely on the Rosenbauer flagship, since it has set the technical standard in the aircraft fire fighting sectors for years. This is also the case for Finavia in Finland, which will put six identical PANTHER 6x6s into service by the end of the year: five at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the capitol, and one at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport. Among these is the PANTHER with production number 1500, a minor milestone. A Euro 6 engine is built into the anniversary PANTHER as th...

Kevin Swann, Managing Director of Kentec, a renowned life safety control systems manufacturer, discusses fire safety in waste management and recycling plants, using a recent installation at Grundon’s new Bulk recycling facility in Banbury as an example of how fire systems can be used to protect large and complex facilities. Fire safety in the recycling and waste management sector is critical. Waste is often readily combustible and once started, fires can be extremely hard to extinguish, s...