Hemel Hempstead, UK, [January 6, 2009] - Xtralis, a leading provider of intelligent fire detection and security solutions, today announced that its ICAM aspirating smoke detection system is being used by Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Service to protect prisoners and staff at 35 prisons throughout the United Kingdom. HMP manages more than 130 prisons in England and Wales with a population of more than 81,000 inmates.
Prisons historically have been challenging environments to protect from fire due to high ceiling heights, large air volumes, drafts, dirt and dust. In addition, pinpointing the absolute location of a fire within a network of cells also has been difficult, and placing traditional point detectors within individual cells often leads to system tampering and disablement.
Delivered in conjunction with Xtralis partner Eurofyre, HMP has deployed Xtralis ICAM early warning fire detection units with vandal-resistant sampling points. Smoke and fire can be detected and investigated immediately and appropriate suppression methods deployed.
"The advantages of having an ICAM sampling point in every cell is that fire detection and response can be initiated quicker, and the systems are vandal resistant," explains David Davies, director of Eurofyre. "In addition, the ICAM solution also can be maintained remotely, which keeps engineers safe from a potentially hostile environment and reduces overall system costs."
The Xtralis ICAM solution is deployed around the world in a variety of challenging environments including data centres, manufacturing facilities, historic buildings and critical infrastructure sites. "We are delighted that Xtralis ICAM early warning detection is helping Her Majesty’s Prison Service keep inmates and staff safe from smoke and fire damage," says Samir Samhouri, Xtralis president and chief executive officer. "Our Xtralis ICAM solution provides reliable detection in a wide array of challenging environments, and its unique ability to isolate the location of the earliest presence of smoke makes it a compelling choice for today’s fire safety professionals."
