subject: Fire Detection Germany : A Move Forwards? [print this page] Recent moves towards the installation of battery smoke detectors in apartment buildings in Germany have been instigated in an attempt to improve the protection of private individuals.
A good move? Well let us say a move that offers a certain amount of protection, but in reality, is more directed to cost-saving rather than offering protection!
But, is this really a good move? The answer is a resounding NO and a little yes!
Let us look at the situation with an apartment building containing 4 apartments on 1 floor and with 5 floors; total apartments 20!
Battery smoke detectors have been installed in each apartment as part of the new German regulations. Frau Helga Schn is getting ready for bed after a hard day with the children. At 11:30 pm, she settles into bed with her husband. All is quiet; the three children, mother and father sleeping peacefully in their FIRST FLOOR apartment.
In a dark corner of the living room, a forgotten cigarette is quietly smoldering on the sofa (really it is irrelevant how a fire starts!). At about 12:15 pm the smoldering has become a fire; a fire that is growing rapidly filling the apartment with poisonous smoke. Suddenly the battery smoke detector starts beeping.
After about a minute, Frau Schn wakes; smells burning and sees the black smoke coming into her bedroom. She wakes her husband and quickly gathers the children. As they run out of their apartment, they bang the door of the neighbor across the landing, but now the smoke is coming out of the apartment into the stairwell. They bang and bang and shout then run downstairs out onto the pavement.
Herr Schn is now on his mobile telephone calling the fire brigade and his wife and children are looking up at the other apartments.
(Let me take a break at this point to explain that the smoke detector that woke the Schn family has done a good job. It is still beeping away, but unfortunately, it is really not loud enough to wake the other 16 FAMILIES on the floors above. The smoke has now started to fill the stairwell from the schn's open apartment door and the fire has really started seriously to consume the apartment.)
Herr Schn is a hero! He wants to go back inside to wake and alert the other families in the building, but the smoke is too much and his wife fears for his life.
As the trusted fire brigade arrive, they are faced with having to evacuate the other 16 FAMILIES and get them to safety and tackle the fire.
Ok for this story; as I do not want to be gruesome, the fire brigade did a wonderful job and everyone was rescued.
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But it need not have been this way!
For just a little more money (on a overall basis spread over a few years), a fire detection system could have been installed in the stairwell.
The fire detection system would have ....
A callpoint, a sounder and a smoke detector on each floor of the stairwell.
A callpoint (a device with a glass that can be broken by a person upon leaving their apartment and that would then signal a fire situation)
A sounder (a device that makes a loud noise when activated by the fire alarm panel)
A smoke detector (we know what this is)
When family Schn left their apartment, then they would break the callpoint glass. This would activate a sounder on each floor waking and alerting the other families.
If family Schn forgot to break the glass in the panic, the smoke detector in the stairwell on their floor would do the job for then when the smoke entered the stairwell; effectively the only escape route in the building.
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BUT WAIT! What about the detector in the apartment itself; the detector that woke family Schn?
A good question that must be answered by the people living in the apartments! the apartment is the private area; it is an area where the tenant is responsible. It is an area where the tenant should decide whether they want the protection of a smoke detector; a well advised course of action.
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Are there other benefits of a fire detection system as opposed to battery detectors? Well let us list some things and then I'll let the reader decide ....
Advantages of a fire detection system:
1. Ability to warn all families in the building.
2. Ability to protect the escape route.
3. Allows all tenants to quickly signal a fire situation.
4. Does not invade the privacy of the tenant.
5. Does not need a routine to replace batteries.
6. Does not require arrangements to be made with tenants for battery replacement.
7. Has a longer life expectancy than battery smoke detectors.
8. Signals fault conditions that could later cause problems.
9. Has a higher reliability than battery smoke detectors.
10. Is much easier to maintain and has lower maintenance costs, than battery smoke detectors in all apartments.
Disadvantages of a fire detection system:
1. Costs a little more money. (but the average annual costs would be lower resulting in a cost advantage over time)
2. Could mean that tenants would be responsible for smoke detection in their own apartments. (many people already have smoke detectors and they are not really an expensive item for a tenant to purchase, when compared with the inconvenience and privacy factors. In fact, while the fire detection system is being installed, the fire alarm company could make special arrangements to offer battery smoke detectors to the tenants.)
3. False alarms! (With an apartment building false alarms are normally caused by people accidentally breaking callpoint glasses or people smoking in the stairwell. but let me talk about this a little more below...)
The false alarm syndrome.
Accidental breaking of callpoint glass: This is a problem that was long solved by the introduction of lift-up plastic covers over the glass. The plastic cover protects the glass from bumps however, is easily and quickly lifted in the case of an emergency.
People smoking in the stairwell: This is and will always be a problem however, not a large one!. Good tenant control and warning signs will reduce this problem. The correct positioning and choice of detector type will naturally help.
