1. BY BILLY NIGZUS TERM 1 10-10-14 FIRE ALARMS

2. WHAT ARE FIRE ALARMS ? Fire alarms are a device or a system that alert people when there is a fire. A device could be a battery operated smoke detector. A system is a group of devices such as pull stations, smoke detectors, and a system panel. How do you activate the system you ask? There are 2 types of devices that make the alarm sound, there is a pull station, and a smoke detector. A pull station is a device on the wall you pull when there is a fire. A smoke detector is a device on the ceiling that when it senses smoke it activates the alarm.

3. HOW DOES THE FIRE DEPARTMENT KNOW ABOUT THE ALARM GOING OFF ? When you set off the alarm several things happen: When you pull the pull station it throws a switch which completes a circuit. A signal goes to the panel and sets off the zone where the pull station is. Two things happen the alarms go off in the building there is a phone line from the panel to the fire alarm company the alarm company’s 24 hour fire alarm tracker then calls dispatch and they set a tone out to the fire department that there is a fire call.

4. TYPES OF SMOKE DETECTORS If there is a fire and no one is around to pull the alarm, what happens? A smoke detector acts the same as a pull station when it detects smoke. There are two types of smoke detectors Ionization: better at detecting fast fires Photoelectric: better at detecting smoldering fires

5. A VIDEO ON PHOTOELECTRIC VS IONIZATION SMOKE DETECTORS HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=ZROLXH8GUCU 6:34

6. OTHER TYPES OF DETECTORS Heat detectors They sense a rise in temperature usually above 125 o F Usually used where people are not there for 24 hours Places such as garage, basement, or attic CO detectors They sense carbon monoxide It is a odorless, tasteless, colorless gas that will kill you. Produced by burning fuel (Wood, Oil, and Propane, etc.) Two common types of CO detectors Combination with smoke detector (does both at the same time) Plug in CO detectors (CO only but easy to install)

7. EXPERIMENT What will we learn? How fire alarms work? How do they activate Manually by pull station Automatically by smoke detector What happens? The alarm will go off inside the building The alarm panel calls dispatch

8. SOURCES YOUTUBE HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=ZROLXH8GUCU GOOGLE IMAGES NFPA, NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION