Fire / Life Safety


SimplexGrinnell Acquires Certified Fire Protection

SimplexGrinnell, a Tyco International company in fire and life safety, recently announced the acquisition of privately held Certified Fire Protection, Inc., a fire suppression company in the greater Atlanta area.

DARPA Demonstrates New Fire-Suppression Method

Using electromagnetic fields and acoustics techniques to destabilize flame plasma worked on small flames, but large-scale suppression has yet to be demonstrated, the program manager said.

London Fire Brigade Backs Sprinklers in Schools

According to new figures the brigade released Jan. 10, 36 arson attacks and 113 accidental fires occurred in London’s schools, colleges, and nursery buildings in 2011.

When Clean Isn't Clean Enough

Some solutions are just no-brainers. Take medical backboards, for example, those hard plastic boards used to stabilize patients during emergencies before the patient is lifted onto the gurney and hurried into the ambulance.

vivint

TV Show Features Home Automation System from Vivint

The company was recently featured on an episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as it helped make a family’s home more secure.

Infrared Technology for Measuring The Effect of Fire on Materials

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid are developing an infrared measuring method to analyze the thermal properties and resistance to fire of composite materials.

Stress Response in Police Officers May Indicate Risk for PTSD

Stress-related disorders are often linked to people working in the line of fire.

Wildland-Urban Interface Fires are Costly Natural Disasters

One of America's most costly natural disasters are wildland fires, and wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires rank among the worst of these. WUI is the threshold where wildfires consume not only the landscape, but also infrastructure. Once that threshold is crossed, flames can spread – well, like wildfire.



Bosch Launches Website for Security Specifiers

The new site features product specifications, CAD drawings and vertical market information, including proven installation examples.

Comark Announces Availability of 19-inch In-wall, Building Alarm Touch PC

The UL 864 ninth edition specification meets the NFPA requirement for equipment installed in life safety applications, such as fire alarms, smoke control and mass notification systems.

Tyco to Separate Into Three Independent, Publicly Traded Companies

Tyco International Ltd. announced today that its board of directors has unanimously approved a plan to separate the company into three independent, publicly traded companies.

How to Choose a Mass Notification System

Given the myriad options businesses have when choosing mass notification systems, we set out to find what factors system managers should take into account when they select a solution.

Trendy Protection

Trendy Protection

Beverly Hills, Calif., has been glamorized in countless film and television depictions as the home of the wealthy and famous. Beyond the glamour, though, it has municipal management issues much like those any city faces.

Got Intelligibility?

For the life safety community, mass notification is a relatively new concept. It arose from emergency management personnel’s inability to communicate with and direct building occupants during emergencies. Since the publication of the Unified Facilities Criteria, many U.S. military facilities throughout the world have installed mass notification systems. The criteria outlined the design, operation and interfaces required for mass notification in military facilities, and the Defense Department approved the final version for mass notification in 2008.

PSA Security Network Announces VES Fire Detection Systems as Newest Vendor Partner

As a PSA vendor partner, both member companies and distribution customers are able to purchase VES products and become certified on Elite networked systems.

Here's the Know-How

The term mass notification originated with the Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) document 4-021-01, titled Design and O&M: Mass Notification Systems, created by the Department of Defense (DoD). The UFC outlines the design, operation and maintenance of mass notification systems (MNSs) required on all DoD properties, including posts for the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy.

Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies Makes BOMA Commitments

The company will serve as BOMA 360 ambassador and on the building codes and voluntary standards committee.

Silent Knight Continues Fire Alarm Technology and Code Seminar Tour

Half-day seminars for fire alarm specifiers and designers offer Continuing Professional Development units.

Security Products 2011 New Product of the Year Award Winners Announced

The Security Products New Product of the Year Award honors the outstanding product development achievements of security equipment manufacturers whose products are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to improve security.

USFA Releases University Housing Fires Report

FEMA’s United States Fire Administration (USFA) has issued a special report focusing on the causes and characteristics of fires in college and university residential buildings that include dormitories and fraternity and sorority houses.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”