Fire fighting systems and equipment vary depending on the age, size, use and type of building construction. A building may contain some or all of the following features:
Fire fighting systems are those which intervene in the fire growth process. Such systems can be used by trained occupants or attending firefighters and include a fire extinguisher, fire hose reel, or fire hydrant.
Other systems may be automatic such as a fire sprinkler system. Automatic systems are considered to be superior, because they do not rely on people to manually operate them. Fire fighting systems are known as "DYNAMIC" systems because they do something; they actively intervene in the rate of fire growth.
The greater the extinguishing capability of the system and the earlier in the fire growth period it can be applied, the lower the fire impact, hence, the preference for sprinkler systems by most fire engineers and firefighting professionals.
The simplest fire detection and alarm system is the residential smoke alarm now installed in most Australian homes. The smoke alarm alerts the building occupants that a fire has been detected. A fire detection system may, in addition to alerting occupants, automatically notify the fire brigade of the fire. If fire detection and alarm systems operate very early in the fire growth stage, building occupants may be able to extinguish a small fire.
An evacuation warning system may be activated by a fire detection or firefighting system or manually by a chief fire warden for other circumstances such as a bomb threat. Many evacuation warning systems also have an intercommunication system such as a phone system and/or a public address system which can be used to pass information to the building occupants and fire wardens, who will orchestrate an orderly evacuation, or move occupants to safer parts of the building.
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