Editor's Note for Fire Protection Selection Guide

By Ralph C Jensen · September 2006

Hand-in-Hand With Fire Safety

I was introduced to fire in my youth. In Wyoming back in those days, you could burn trash in an open container, and it was my responsibility to take the trash out. Not a great idea, especially for eye brows.

Early in my career as a journalist, fire struck again in the hills north of Evanston, Wyo., in the oil field. A fire was ignited when oil, propane and fire combined in a blaze at a collecting station. Many experts felt the fire was set on purpose to provide work for a fire extinguishing crew from Rock Springs. They failed to put the fire out and Red Adair and his hot shots were called in.

Early in life, I learned, fire is a dangerous business.

At the National Fire Protection Association conference and exposition in Orlando, Fla., in June, dozens of companies introduced new products that bring some levelness to the fire danger playing field.

A savvy technology that is gaining headway in this industry is directional sound, which consists of a broadband, multi-frequency, low-, mid- and high-range signals. What researchers have found is that people's ears easily and quickly locate the sound source, making directional sound an ideal manner for marking building exits and building evacuation. Distinct, directional sound helps people in the building find the exit.

Along with fire comes smoke. Rapid evacuation is what saves lives, and fatalities in fires are often caused by inhalation of poisonous smoke. Fire detection systems do a good job at detecting fire and notifying people they need to leave a building, but people need to be guided to exit points and escape routes.

Using a technology that guides people to an exit and up or down stairs, recent trials show that evacuees using conventional technology would have died. But the trials also show that directional sounders, even when negotiating staircases, helped evacuees escape in less than half the time.

While I'm no fire expert, it seems technology is catching up with the dangers of fire.

This article originally appeared in the September 2006 issue of the Security Products Fire Protection Selection Guide, pg. 66C.


About the author

Ralph C Jensen
Ralph C. Jensen is editor-in-chief of Security Products magazine.

You can visit the company Web site at 1105 Media Inc. .


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