Fast CCTV Fire Detection
CCTV Fire Detection is extremely fast.
This video demonstrates how rapidly a CCTV Fire-detecting camera can react.
CCTV Fire Detection -
at a greater distance
The greater the distance, the greater the size of fire required to trigger the CCTV. Although the speed decreases it's still much, much faster than a conventional smoke or heat detector.
This video displays sample analytics and messages sent to the ARC (Alarm Receiving Center).
Designing a CCTV Fire Alarm Detection system
The following factors can be used to compare the standard conventional type of fire alarm system (to BS5839 standards) with the new technology offered by Video Content Analysis (VCA) connected to thermal cameras.
Life Safety
CCTV Fire detection cannot reliably warn persons present in the building the need to urgently escape before their safe passage is impeded by smoke.
For this reason, BS5839 systems are carefully designed to be able to wake sleeping persons in time to save their life.
The same applies to persons potentially trapped and unaware of a developing fire, and possibly too far away from warning sounders.
Therefore, CCTV Fire detection is not to be used on its' own, full compliance with BS5839 should be given by a conventional fire alarm system
Business Resilience
An extra two minutes of warning before a fire takes hold can grant enough time to save the building, stock, and operations.
Fires grow exponentially not linearly, so each saved minute early in the fire is equal to saving many parts of the building 10 minutes later.
The whole building could be in flames before the brigade arrive, or maybe only half of it, if the warning time can be increased.
This is the advantage of CCTV fire detection, early warning! In turn, your business operations and reputation stand a better chance of survival.
Coverage
A classic use of CCTV fire detection is large waste / recycling processing facilities.
Fire (e.g. from Lithium batteries or the classic exothermic drying process in a commercial laundry) will have to take significant "hold" before the conventional detection equipment will be triggered.
There would be repeated false-alarms if smoke detection is used (whether ionsiation, optical, or beam), so often they have to be heat detecting.
As a result, any fire would have to be of such a magnitude so as to cause the ceiling area to achieve a very high temperature before the alarm was raised, and by then, it will have too much "hold" to be extinguished.
Detection Speed
Rather than waiting for the consequences of fire (smoke, room heat etc.) to trigger a detector, a CCTV fire detection system will see the heat from the combustion process itself, including pyrolisation, possibly even at the time of initial ignition.
This is even the case where ignition or preliminary heat accumulation occurs inside an enclosure such as a cardboard package, before any smoke has been emitted from the enclosure.
This detection speed, coupled with the inherent false alarm rejection, renders CCTV fire detection systems a valuable business-continuity asset.
Free initial consultation
We do not charge for an initial no-obligation consultation, so please feel free to send your general interest so we can discuss options with you.