Experts caution against fire outbreaks

May 10, 2016

Residential structures continue to have the biggest number of fires at over 30.5%

The fight against damage of property as a result of fire has gone digital. Security providers, property managers and constructors were cautioned during a gadget familiarisation workshop at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala.

"Through one control, one can monitor the safety in Kenya, South Africa or USA when out of a given station," said Honeywell Technical Speaker, Ken Kamau.

"You do not have to be there physically since monitoring can be done even in an internet café from anywhere in the world."

This is possible through an X-618 product which supports target oriented announcements like calls and availing information on a daily basis.

"These include reminding tenants it is closing time through a public address system designed for all size buildings," stressed Kamau. "This greatly reduces expenses by integrating several systems into one unit."

This is possible on a display of a touch screen call station which can be configured within minutes after introduction. The Honeywell distributors, Securex Chief Technical sales officer Guprit Singh says, the one click call buttons enable faster response.

"Recorded messages and announcements can be operated within seconds," said Guprit. "The X-618 gives power to individual messages towards a broad public. This would be ideal in a place where fire fatalities have been crowned by property loss."

 

The Honeywell products are ideal for buildings that need public address systems comprising; hotels, medical centres, schools, offices, stadiums, theatres and leisure centres.

"This is one way to reduce fatalities and property damage," said Gupreet. "Clients have the freedom to choose the installer and maintenance provider who suits their needs."

The introduction of modern hazard detection equipment comes at a time when several schools, commercial units and markets have been gutted by fires. This coincides with a global terrorism threat which keeps security personnel on the edge.

"If the Twin Towers had these gadgets when the terrorists struck," said Kamau. "The number of fatalities would have been reduced given the communication gear. Many fire-fighters died while saving lives because there was no communication."

They reportedly continued searching for people on floors that were completely evacuated.

In 2014, police received 1,007 fire emergency calls out of which 742 were actual calls handled, 207 incidents of fire emergency calls were handled before the arrival of Fire Brigade and 58 false calls were responded to.

The reports indicates that residential structures continue to have the biggest number of fires at over 30.5%, followed by makeshift wooden/grass thatched structures at 16.7% among others.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});