Fire Detection & Evacuation

Fire Alarm and Evacuation Systems otherwise known as Fire Alarm Systems are the first line of defense against the devastating effects of a fire. These systems work 24 hours per day to alert building occupants of fire danger and assist in their orderly and safe evacuation. Fire Alarm Systems also help to contain the smoke and alert authorities of the danger. Lives can be saved, as well as critical business assets, by providing instant notification to authorities as soon as possible.

IntraWorks designs, installs, and services Fire Detection and Evacuation Systems for a wide variety of client facilities to include: retail stores, financial institutions, grocery stores, convenience stores, places of worship, storage facilities, and much more.

Fire Alarm and Evacuation Systems make-up an important part of any building safety system by providing detection of fire and smoke, evacuation of building occupants, control of fire dampers and doors, recall of elevators, evacuation of smoke, and communication to the authorities. Fire Alarm Systems utilize hard wire to connect field devices to the main alarm control panel and remote annunciators. Field devices might include: smoke detectors, heat detectors, pull stations, water flow detectors, tamper switches, horn strobes, speaker strobes, door closers, elevator recall relays, HVAC damper control systems and more.

By law, Fire Alarm Systems must alert or call a monitoring facility either operated by the organization or operated by an independent company who then dispatches according to a call list. The Fire Alarm Systems makes the call to the monitoring facility through phone lines, the internet, radio systems, or cellular systems. Most of the time, the Fire Alarm System utilizes more than one technology to assure reliable communication of the fire. The monitoring facility is an integral part of the Fire Alarm and Evacuation System solution. Please see monitoring services under the service section.

The design, installation, and maintenance of a Fire Detection and Evacuation System is mandated by fire code. Fire codes are different in each State and City and the code is more or less strict depending on the type of occupancy of the building. Changes to a building structure can effect the operation of a Fire Alarm System and must be approved by fire authorities.

Fire Detection and Evacuation Systems are being modified to do more than just evacuate for fire. They are being redesigned to evacuate for other reasons such as work place violence, floods, weather related events, and much more. In addition, these systems are being utilized to announce to the building occupants that they should stay in the building in the cases of some types of weather events, violent threats, and more. This trend will happen over a long period of time as jurisdictions begin to adopt new fire codes, which are now referred to as notification code.

The Fire Alarm System is also being utilized to make emergency announcements to the occupants of a building. As a result, horn strobes are being replaced with speaker strobes so that verbal instructions can be announced instead of just sirens, which provide little information.

Combination Panels – Some more advanced Intrusion Alarm Systems also provide fire detection and evacuation. This application is usually limited to facilities that are less than 15,000 square feet and some jurisdictions do not allow these types of systems. However, if allowed, there are good cost savings over traditional separate systems.

Fire Alarm Systems integrate to elevator control systems to recall elevators, magnetic fire door closers, HVAC dampers, access control to release doors, fire suppression systems (both wet and dry), and smoke control systems for evacuation of smoke.

IntraWorks is one of the most experienced Fire Alarm design, installation, and testing companies in the region. We are proud to be an EST strategic partner and represent all models of Edwards Systems Technology (EST) fire alarm equipment to include: IRC-3, EST-2, Quickstart, EST-3, EST3X, EST-4, Envoy Graphic Annunciators, Fireworks, Signature series devices and much more. IntraWorks also represents EST IO64, EST IO500, Fireshield, Firelite, Kidde, and Harrington for smaller applications and legacy equipment.

By law, fire alarm systems must be tested at least annually. IntraWorks can test any brand of Fire Alarm System to include: SimplexGrinnell, Kidde, EST, Firelite, Notifier, Vigilant, Miretone and more. Our fire alarm technicians can perform tests according to NFPA-72 and certify the health of any system for fire marshal inspections. We can also work with the state fire marshal and city officials for design or re-design of fire alarm systems to make them compliant to current standards.