Early on Thursday 14th September a raging fire broke out at the disused supermarket Haldanes in Buckie, Moray. Local residents were shocked at the amount of black smoke bellowing out of the derelict building and there were reports that the plumes of smoke could be seen from over 15 miles away.
Grampian Fire Service arrived swiftly at the scene with six pumps and around 40 fire-fighters shortly after 7am to take control of the blaze and protect the surrounding buildings and community.
The Haldanes supermarket had been unoccupied since its closure several months ago and no-one is thought to have been hurt.
A large building like a supermarket in the middle of a town is sure to have significant financial value. Owners who are conscious about protecting their assets have suitable fire alarm systems in place to protect the premises while it is not in use.
Category P
In disused buildings, where the objective is solely to protect the property, a Category P fire alarm system is necessary to protect the building from fire. This fire alarm system will have a method of communication in order to notify the fire service as quickly as possible to attend the scene if there’s a fire.
In theory, the earlier the fire department are alerted, the quicker their attendance and hopefully there will be less damage to the property.
Alarm Receiving Centre
An alarm receiving centre (ARC) is required to receive the signal from the fire alarm system communicator and notify the authorities. ARCs are manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and so are well placed to deal with an emergency at any time.
When a fire signal is received at the ARC the location of the transmitting fire alarm system is displayed which allows them to direct the fire service to the right location.
Types Of Communicator
Speech Dialler
This type of communicator sends a pre-recorded message to telephone numbers that have been programmed. Note that you should not use 999 (112) emergency numbers.
Digicom (Digital Communicator)
These are one of the most common ways of communicating to an ARC. Most buildings with a security system would have a Digicom fitted and one of the channels would be used for a fire signal. As with all communicators of this type a telephone line is required.
Red Care
With a Red Care system the telephone line is being monitored all the time, which means if a fault occurs the alarm receiving centre will be notified and the fault can be rectified quickly, not leaving the site without cover for a long period of time. Red Care is widely used on commercial sites.
GSM
The GSM Communicator uses mobile phone networks to send text messages to pre-programmed numbers. This type of system is suited to remote areas where it may be difficult to install a standard phone line. One thing to make sure of with this system is that you have good mobile network coverage.
Discount Fire Supplies sell a range of fire alarms, fire alarm accessories and much more. Browse our online shop or contact us for a quote today.
