4 Important Factors Before Buying a Fire Station Security System

 

Gone are the days of never locking the door! Today you can strengthen your fire stations without resembling any fortress. We all understand that a fire station happens to be one of the most substantial capital investments made by any fire department and their community.  

The volunteer-staffed stations, in particular, must protect that investment from burglary, fire, burglary, and vandalism. Also, stations that have manpower round-the-clock require security when the workforce could be out of quarters due to some reason. All fire stations must have a minimum fire detection system including a sound smoke management system that's surveilled 24 hours each day by either the local dispatch center or some third-party monitoring service. Usually, all fire stations must be entirely protected by a fire sprinkler system that's observed 24 hours each day too. 

 

Often many fire stations are engulfed by fires that went untraced as the station was unoccupied. Such accidents result in complete loss, or extensive damage, to the fire apparatus, apart from the equipment and supplies. Modern fire alarm systems also protect against undetected hazards like carbon monoxide and natural gas. Remember that both can be lethal for life and property. 

 

Physical security is the term to describe preventive measures adopted for protecting property, buildings, and other physical facilities. People occupied in the IT sector and AI knows that there are rings of security in information technology. Similarly, there are rings within physical security as well. A leading technology institute lays out these 4 rings. 

 

• Ring 1: Areas on the perimeter of the building. 

• Ring 2: Areas around the building. 

• Ring 3: Areas within the building. 

• Ring 4: Human factor. 

 

1. Prime Targets 

 

Fire stations are susceptible to burglary and vandalism due to the costly pieces of equipment kept inside the station. Burglars will seek items that they can liquidate faster such as portable radios, electronics, turnout gear, SCBA, power tools, lawn care equipment, etc. Moreover, personal vehicles could be parked at the station too. Often, volunteer firefighters forget to lock their vehicles in haste. 

 

A few of the commonest features to seek while buying intrusion/burglar alarms and detection are perimeter protection, motion detection, glass-break detection, and multi-area alarming. The motion detectors can be combined with a video surveillance system so the cameras will start recording the event and you can derive the timing from the video. 

Intrusion detection systems with perimeter protection can start at a gate, facility entrance, parking lot, etc. Glass-break detection can trace intruders before they gain access inside a fire station.  

 

2. Access Control 

 

Multi-area arming protects particular points or several weak links within a facility. Multi-area arming is perfect for restricted access areas or after-hours protection, like emergency services, medical supply storage areas, fundraising supplies in a volunteer station, etc. 

Access control systems or door locks limit entrance within a facility in certain areas. Entry can be ascertained by person, day of the week, and time of day. This is important to ensure that only an authorized person can access the building. 

 

Nowadays card access, digital keypad, and biometric access control systems can be reconfigured remotely or on-site whenever required, like a situation where an employee or member is isolated from the department. Access for such members can be deactivated too during the individual's separation. 

 

3. Wireless Security 

 

Wireless security systems have custom-touchpad, alarm confirmation, and central control, multi-zones for accommodating department growth, real-time clock time stamping, employee-unique passcodes, 24-hour zones, and siren/battery backup power supplies. 

Realtors are using wireless security systems more for maintaining physical security at vacant properties in their inventory due to the ease of setup that usually doesn't need technical expertise.  

 

4. Standpipe Systems 

 

Standpipe systems are a series of pipes that connect a water supply to hose connections. They are usually an extension of the fire hydrant system. They are developed for generating a pre-piped water system for the occupants or the fire department. There are four types of standpipe systems. They are wet system, automatic dry system, semi-automatic dry, and manual dry. 

 

Inference 

 

What all mentioned above are very important for any fire station security system.