Fire Protection Systems

When we design buildings, fire protection is integrated into the structure.

There are three main components to fire protection systems:

• Fire Zones - are designed with two hour fire separations between them. This means that a fire in one zone should not spread to another zone for two hours. At a minimum each floor and each exit stairwell will be a separate fire zone.
• Fire Alarm Systems comprised of:
  • Detection of Fire (usually with smoke or heat detectors, but sometimes using smoke alarms for local notification).
  • Pull Stations (for manual activation should detection fail)
  • Alarms (usually via horns and strobes)
  • Central processing panel
  • Communications wiring to notify responders of the alarm.
• Fire Suppression Systems such as:
  • Sprinkler Systems - water pipes throughout the building that can supply activated sprinkler heads
    • Fire Pumps - in large or tall buildings, a fire pump is used to ensure adequate water pressure for all sprinkler heads
    • Sprinkler Heads - a metal assembly, typically mounted on the ceiling, composed of a frame holding a glass vial of liquid that ruptures at a defined temperature thereby opening the pipe and allowing water to flow onto the deflector.
  • Cooking Hood Extinguishers (in Dining facilities, and new residence halls)
  • Dry Chemical Extinguishing systems in various applications around campus
  • Halon-like Extinguishers for computer server rooms
  • Carbon Dioxide Extinguisher systems for fuel storage silos
  • Portable Fire Extinguishers - These are intended for life safety uses and are provided in every Longwood University building.