A cse study of Essex County Fire & Rescue Service’s (ECFRS) new Command and Control Centre. As an extension to the Fire Service HQ at Kelvedon Park, Witham, it provides a 999 call centre, with training and admin rooms for over 200 staff. It has WAGNER UK’s OxyReduct fire prevention product.
John White, ICT Communications Manager for ECFRS, says: “OxyReduct is providing the ultimate form of fire prevention for a new server room that is at the heart of the development. The new server facility runs all of the software for the integrated Command & Control of the Service as well as a wide-area network for the region. The project was also developed in partnership with Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, which uses the same server facilities to power its own refurbished control centre. The original server suite is now used as a back-up to provide a resilient, dual redundant solution that is one of the most advanced Command & Control operations in the UK.
“Not only is it vitally important to ensure that any downtime due to a fire is eliminated, but as a front line fire and rescue service we were determined to deploy the most technically advanced workplace fire protection system available. When we were first introduced to OxyReduct, it was clearly a perfect fit.”
The product firm says that its product creates an environment where fires cannot start; by continuously reducing the ratio of oxygen in a closed room through addition of nitrogen to the air. The nitrogen volume is increased to a level in which combustibles do not inflame and an open fire cannot develop. However, the protected area remains accessible for staff. With traditional forms of fire protection a fire has to start before they are activated, hence damage from the original fire and smoke and the effects of any extinguishant.
The new server room was designed to be airtight to ensure enough nitrogen generation and reduce running costs. The 152 m2 facility has an N50 value of 1.2 and uses an OxyReduct Compact unit to maintain the O2 level at 15 per cent. WAGNER UK’s TITANUS air sampling smoke detection product has also been installed as a back-up.
Other users of the product include the British Library, Jaguar Land Rover, British Airways and the new Library of Birmingham, and the firm says that applications include IT data centres, communication suites, archives, museums, cold stores and warehousing. For company information contact:
WAGNER UK Limited
Wagner House – Unit F, South Cambridge Business Park, Babraham Road, Sawston, Cambridge CB2 4JH
Tel: 0870 333 6116 Fax: 0870 333 4544
E-mail: [email protected].
