Suppression Activation
ActALERT-RDS is a residential fire suppression activation system. It is comprised of a Radio Data Service (RDS) receiver that is synchronized with a community’s commercial FM radio station once it has been retrofitted with the GSSNet RDS Emergency Warning Network. Through CommanderALERT, the emergency manager in the OC will be able to identify all residences that have been fitted with suppression systems and then selectively activate the appropriate ActALERT-RDS to protect the structure from fire damage.
Suppression components can be deployed to protect the residence from the approaching fire event. A typical system would be comprised of a number of strategically placed delivery heads that can spray a directed pattern of a fire retardant material onto a targeted area of the residence. These delivery heads are fed from a tank containing the retardant. Once a suppression system is activated by the ActALERT-RDS, nitrogen gas pressurizes the suppression tank and propels the retardant out through the delivery heads. In larger systems, the nitrogen gas drives a gas powered pump that can handle larger delivery volumes.
ActALERT -RDS
A NITROGEN BASED RESIDENTIAL SUPPRESSION SYSTEM
ActALERT-SAT is a self contained, solar powered, rugged, satellite connected, control unit designed for installation in an outdoor environment. The ActALERT-SAT incorporates Ambient’s patented energy management technology to power the system from light and store the energy in a non-battery based ultra capacitor medium. This provides the system with an operational life of over 15 years with virtually no maintenance requirements. The heart of the ActALERT-SAT is a bi-directional satellite modem that, through its own unique address, is in near real time contact with EMMP. By sending an activation command to a specific ActALERT-SAT, located anywhere in the world, emergency managers in the OC can, through CommanderALERT, remotely trigger a fuel break suppression system to impede the progress of a wildfire through a protected area. EMMP can also receive sensor data from the addressed ActALERT-SAT providing real time suppression system activation status to the OC.
By providing this advanced ActALERT-SAT suppression system activation capability, a new and effective tool in fighting wildfires is available. Through the strategic placement of remotely addressable and triggerable fuel breaks, CommanderALERT can coordinate their activation to protect:
- High fire risk areas and fire conduits
- Escape routes for threatened communities
- Population islands in the wildland urban interface
- Critical infrastructures such as remotely located cell tower nodes, radio repeater tower nodes, remote electrical sub-stations and infrastructure, etc.
- Critical access points, such as a road passing through a fire prone gulley where residents and emergency personnel need access during a wildfire event
- Communities atop of a canyons or hills. Applying retardant to the surrounding slopes can inhibit the runaway development of the firestorm that can occur as slopes burn up into a community such as Normal Heights in San Diego, June 30, 1985 in which 76 homes were destroyed, 57 were damaged and property losses were estimated at $9 million.
- Sensitive Wildlife Conservation areas
APPLYING RETARDANT TO CANYONS AND SLOPES
SUPPRESSION SYSTEM REMOTE ACTIVATION - A suppression system is designed to provide a precise application of retardant onto a structure or a pre-determined zone of land, providing a fuel break. To provide an effective suppression system, there needs to be a means of timing the optimum moment of system activation. Triggering the system too early could waste retardant if the fire changes course away from the treated structure or area. Triggering the system too late could impede the desired delivery pattern of the retardant due to the severe fire storm winds that precede the arrival of the wildfire. Optimum activation timing is therefore necessary to effectively protect a structure from an approaching wildfire or to establish an effective fuel break to impede the development and/or progress of a wildfire. CommanderALERT can now provide fire responders with this capability of remotely activating a retardant based fuel break suppression system with precision timing based on dynamically changing fire conditions.
Suppression Activation Deployment Architecture
