FIRE ALARM

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 6, 22 January 1937, Page 6

FIRE ALARM

Efficient New System Installed at Napier Wool Store QUICK REACTION

An alarm which provides against all possibility of mistake and entirely eliminates the human element in firedetection has now been installed in the new wool store of Williams and Kettie, Ltd., Port Ahuriri, and is connected with the Central Fire Station at Napier. Reacting to a rapid rise of temperature, the device is able to detect fires that cannot be discovered by a nightwatehman, and every foot of ceiling space in the building is fully wired. Tlie new Williams and Kettie store ie the first building in Napier to be equipped with this latest development of the New Zealand-made alarm, which is manufactured in Christchurch. The large building has three acres of fioor i space and houses many hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of wool. The building to be protected by the alarm his the ceilings equipped with what are known as tkermosthes, one of these being installed in every 400 square feet. The thermosthes, which work on the principle of the expansion of metal, are not of the type which release an alarm when a maximum temperature is reached. A rapid rise of 30 degrees in temperature sets -off the alarm, which operates at an earlier stage of the development of the fire than does the older type. The maximum temperature at which the alarm is set guard3 against smouldering iires. The thermosthes on the groun^ fioor of the store are set to give the alarm at 130 degrees Fahrenheit if the temperature has risen gradually to that point, and those on tho upper fioor, which. is exposed more. to the heat of the sun, at 145 degrees. Thus in a winter temperature of 30 degrees the device will detect a fire when the temperature rises to 60 degrees, instead of waiting for a higher temperature. When an alamn is sounded the meehanical portion of the alarm sets off a gong outside the builcling and another at the Fire Station. The latter gives the code number of the building protected, 34 in the case of "Williams and Kettie 's store, and also stamps(out the figures four times eaeh on two tapes, showing numbers connected with the street alarm system. Au indieator above the gong on the building shows the brigade when it arrives exaetly which division of the building is on fire. So soon is the alarm sounded Ihat in many cases a nightwatehman at the building concerned in the fire has positiveiy stated that the alarm waa false, only to he proved wrong. Three possible faults in the system are carefully guarded against by the mgenious meehanism of the alarm. A short circuit iinmediately causes an alarm to be sent. A wife cut by burgiars, gnawed by rats, or severed in any other manner also gives au alarm, and power failure is guarded •against by a wet battei-y in the alarm which is capable of running it for one month. If by any ehance tho battery at the alarm becomes disconnected, the call is sent through » on corresponding batteries at the Fire Station. The survey engineer for the company, Mr V. E. Hampton-Tindale, illustrated the alarm to a reporter by holding a match to a thermostat. In one second the alarm gongs at both the building and the Fire Station were ringing and tho code figures were being stamped out on the tape. The system is widely used throughout New Zealand, while aaother of the Williams and Kettie stores is equipped with an earlier model of the same alarm.