Remote Detection and Alarm for Residences: The Woodlands System

摘要

This exploratory study in the new-town development of the Woodlands in Texas, measures a residential remote detection/alarm system and evaluated its effectiveness in reducing deaths and injuries from fires. Thirty six months of alarm reports were analyzed. During this period 1496 alarms were transmitted to the fire department. 98.2 percent were considered unnecessary fires. Three major categories of unnecessary fires emerged in the study; cooking related incidents, mechanical problems with the detectors and fire-place incidents. The study shows that there were less dollar losses in protected homes where fires took place. There is no report of a fire related death.