Because of the speed and totality of the destructive forces of fire, it constitutes one of the more serious threats to any size business. Vandalized or environmentally damaged structures can be repaired and stolen objects recovered. Items destroyed by fire, however, are gone forever. An uncontrolled fire can obliterate an entire room's contents within a few minutes and completely burn out a building in a couple hours.

The first step toward halting a fire is to properly identify the incident, raise the occupant alarm, and then notify emergency response professionals. This is often the function of the fire detection and alarm system. Security Systems Network dealers offer various options, depending on the specific characteristics of the protected space.

The following text presents an overview of fire detection, alarm and sprinkler systems including system types, components, operations, and answers to common anxieties.

Fire Detection and Alarm Systems
To minimize fire risk and its impact, businesses should develop and implement comprehensive and objective fire protection programs. Program elements should include fire prevention efforts, building construction improvements, methods to detect a developing fire and alert emergency personnel, and means to effectively extinguish a fire. Each component is important toward overall accomplishment of the businesses fire safety goal. It is important for management to outline desired protection objectives during a fire and establish a program that addresses these goals. Therefore, the basic question to be asked by those purchasing a Fire Protection System is "What maximum fire size and loss can the business accept?" With this information, goal oriented protection can be implemented with the assistance of a Security Systems Network dealer.

Introduction
A key aspect of fire protection is to identify a developing fire emergency in a timely manner, and to alert the building's occupants and fire emergency organizations. This is the role of fire detection and alarm systems. Depending on the anticipated fire scenario, building and use type, number and type of occupants, and criticality of contents and mission, these systems can provide several main functions. First they provide a means to identify a developing fire through either manual or automatic methods and second, they alert building occupants to a fire condition and the need to evacuate. Another common function is the transmission of an alarm notification signal to the fire department or other emergency response organization. They may also shut down electrical, air handling equipment or special process operations, and they may be used to initiate automatic suppression systems. This section will describe the basic aspects of fire detection and alarm systems.

Control Panels
The control panel is the "brain" of the fire detection and alarm system. It is responsible for monitoring the various alarm "input" devices such as manual and automatic detection components, and then activating alarm "output" devices such as horns, bells, warning lights, emergency telephone dialers, and building controls. Control panels may range from simple units with a single input and output zone, to complex computer driven systems that monitor several buildings over business campus.

Fire Detectors
When present, humans can be excellent fire detectors. The healthy person is able to sense multiple aspects of a fire including the heat, flames, smoke, and odors. For this reason, most fire alarm systems are designed with one or more manual alarm activation devices to be used by the person who discovers a fire. Unfortunately, a person can also be an unreliable detection method since they may not be present when a fire starts, may not raise an alarm in an effective manner, or may not be in perfect heath to recognize fire signatures. It is for this reason that a variety of automatic fire detectors have been developed. Automatic detectors are meant to imitate one or more of the human senses of touch, smell or sight. Thermal detectors are similar to our ability to identify high temperatures, smoke detectors replicate the sense of smell, and flame detectors are electronic eyes. The properly selected and installed automatic detector can be a highly reliable fire sensor.

The key advantage of smoke detectors is their ability to identify a fire while it is still in its incipient. As such, they provide added opportunity for emergency personnel to respond and control the developing fire before severe damage occurs. They are usually the preferred detection method in life safety and high content value applications. The disadvantage of smoke detectors is that they are usually more expensive to install, when compared to thermal sensors, and are more resistant to inadvertent alarms. However, when properly selected and designed, they can be highly reliable with a very low probability of false alarms.

Manual fire detection is the oldest method of detection. In the simplest form, a person yelling can provide fire warning. In buildings, however, a person's voice may not always transmit throughout the structure. For this reason, manual alarm stations are installed. The general design philosophy is to place stations within reach along paths of escape. It is for this reason that they can usually be found near exit doors in corridors and large rooms.

Alarm Output Devices
Upon receiving an alarm notification, the fire alarm control panel must now tell someone that an emergency is underway. This is the primary function of the alarm output aspect of a system. Occupant signaling components include various audible and visual alerting components, and are the primary alarm output devices. Bells are the most common and familiar alarm sounding device, and are appropriate for most building applications. Horns are another option, and are especially well suited to areas where a loud signal is needed such as library stacks, and architecturally sensitive buildings where devices need partial concealment. Chimes may be used where a soft alarm tone is preferred, such as health care facilities and theaters. Speakers are the fourth alarm sounding option, which sound a reproducible signal such as a recorded voice message. They are often ideally suited for large, multistory or other similar buildings where phased evacuation is preferred. Speakers also offer the added flexibility of emergency public address announcements. With respect to visual alert, there are a number of strobe and flashing light devices. Visual alerting is required in spaces where ambient noise levels are high enough to preclude hearing sounding equipment, and where hearing impaired occupants may be found. Standards such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandate visual devices in numerous museum, library, and historic building applications.

Summary
In summary, there are several options for a building's fire detection and alarm system. The ultimate system type, and selected components, will be dependent upon the building construction and value, its use or uses, the type of occupants, mandated standards, content value, and mission sensitivity. Contacting a Security Systems Network dealer who understands fire problems and the different alarm and detection options is usually a preferred first step to find the best system.

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