Key Highlights

• ADT’s Minerva MX fire system identifies the location and nature of fire and minimises false alarms
• Fire detectors are carefully matched to their environment to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
• Hold-open devices on fire doors help to isolate fire and safeguard escape

Situation

St Joseph's Convent School, situated close to Reading University, is an independent Catholic day school for girls aged 3 to 18 and boys aged 3 to 7. It welcomes pupils of all denominations and faiths. With over 2,000 schools damaged by fire in the UK each year and arson attacks on schools an ever present danger, the school has the safety of its staff, students and premises at heart. Following a fire risk assessment, the school decided to upgrade from their simple call-point based fire detection system that relied on pupils and members of staff to raise the alarm when a fire was identified. The result was a sophisticated automatic detection system from ADT that can identify and pinpoint fire even in isolated and unoccupied areas of the school.

Solution

ADT installed an intelligent combination of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the school, with each detector carefully matched to the environment it is designed to protect. For example, heat detectors have been used in the kitchen area rather than smoke detectors which could be too easily triggered by fumes from cooking.
 
ADT’s networkable Minerva MX fire system links the various parts of the school back to a display panel, where the appropriate personnel can easily identify the location and nature of a fire and get the right level of help on the way at once. An EMS Radio Signalling system is used to link the remote music block and preparatory school back to the main building.
 
In the event of a fire, sounders are automatically activated to urge occupants to exit the building. The alarm can be clearly heard throughout the school and continues to operate until the building is clear.
 
Escape from any part of the building is possible through a number of alternative routes - all short enough to allow occupants to evacuate in two or three minutes. Hold-open devices linked to the automatic fire detection systems have been fitted to many of the fire doors so that they remain open under normal circumstances but automatically shut should a fire be detected. This enables the fire to be isolated and protects the escape routes, allowing extra time to exit the building.

Results

ADT’s skilful use and placement of fire detectors and hold-open devices helps to ensure the automatic fire detection system meets the unique day-to-day needs of St Joseph’s Convent School. The intelligent Minerva MX control panel plays an important role in making sure that an alarm is raised early and the premises is evacuated well before a fire poses real safety concerns to pupils and staff. It harnesses the world’s most advanced fire algorithms to ensure false alarms are minimised, rapid fire decisions are made and occupants alerted quickly, so evacuation can begin and damage to the building can be minimised.