SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The end of October means the close of National Fire Prevention Month, and the time to replace batteries in smoke detectors. And, it's also a good time to look at hot technology for firefighters - who rushed from their stations to fight 1.6 million fires in the United States alone in 2003. Ironically, their speed in helping others can put their own firehouses at risk of danger or result in costly operational overhead at a time when every dollar is needed. As a result, ComTech Communications has developed a fire station alerting system that automatically controls all lighting, audio and other user-defined systems throughout a fire station to increase safety, improve energy efficiency and help firefighters get out of the station faster. Automated with controls from GE Fanuc Automation, a unit of GE Infrastructure, the system ensures that, when the big trucks need to leave the station, the lights come on to help get the firefighters out the door, then turn off along with potentially hazardous appliances such as stoves and barbecues - all automatically.

Burning Requirements

To help make fire stations safer in the Sacramento area, ComTech's fire station alerting system was recently implemented at 12 fire stations throughout the region. "The Sacramento area fire chiefs clearly laid out their expectations and requirements for such a system, as a result of incidents at the stations themselves while the firefighters were responding to alarms," explains Allen Campbell, designer and product manager at ComTech Communications. "Firefighters need to leave the stations quickly and can't take the time to turn on lights in the dark when an alarm first sounds or turn off lights and appliances when leaving."

According to Campbell, the Sacramento area departments requested a fire station alerting system capable of integrating any known two-way radio signaling format, as well as selective call decoders from a number of manufacturers. Additional requirements included: controlling fire station lighting and public address systems, expanding easily and cost effectively to accommodate additional functions and providing consistency across all stations in a particular region or district.

"One of the primary challenges we faced in delivering these capabilities was the ability to control all audio and lighting systems within fire stations while offering expandability from a base hardware platform," says Campbell. "To do this, we needed a highly reliable controller with sufficient memory, input/output count and expandability. To make the system easier to implement and to use, we were also looking for a device that is quickly programmed and backed up with long-term support. GE had what we were looking for."

A Red Hot Solution

ComTech's Model 10 Fire Station Alerting System utilizes a compact GE Fanuc controller and operator interface. The system responds to nine selective two-way radio alert inputs and seven Wide Area Network (WAN) alerts from emergency dispatch centers equipped with computer-aided dispatch systems. For example, when a station is alerted by dispatch, the Model 10 automatically turns on the lights at a firehouse to help awaken firefighters, then turns off the lights after a designated time frame. An alert can also trigger the automatic shutdown of specified appliances. In addition, the alerting system responds to doorbells and fire/security alarms, and can be customized to other user needs.

ComTech's Model 10 Fire Station Alerting System has been operational at stations throughout the Sacramento area for more than a year. According to officials, the stations are pleased with the reliability, scalability and affordability of the solution - which is helping them to shave off precious seconds - in an industry where every second counts.

Campbell concludes, "Our systems give fire departments peace of mind in knowing that their stations are reliably alerted."

And, that's using hot technology to help firefighters put the "Prevention" in National Fire Prevention Month.

GE Fanuc Web Site: www.gefanuc.com

ComTech Communications: www.comtechcomm.com