On July 25, 2007 at 14:49 gherbert@retro.com (George William Herbert) wrote:
Seems like the EPO should be a logical AND with the fire alarm system - it only works AFTER you have an existing fire alarm in the building.
No, no. If the fire alarm system fails, the fire responders need to be able to hit the EPO and be sure that it works anyways. It has to be an absolute - firefighters have to know that the thing they hit was the only, and right, thing, and that they aren't going to die because they sprayed water on an energized but on fire electrical system backed by a 120 KVA UPS or some such.
I worked three years with the boston fire dept, albeit quite a few years ago, and rode into many fires and don't generally remember them being much concerned about hitting *anything* with a high-pressure stream of water if it's on fire. Remember all those rules you know about not using water on electrical or chemical fires? Doesn't really count if you have charged fire hoses and know what you're doing except in some special circumstances (they did foam things occasionally, very occasionally, foam costs money!) If they needed the power out, perhaps due to a gas hazard, they generally go for the power out in the street, calling in the power co if there's time or, well, one of the firefighters usually knows how to cut a building's power, between them they usually know just about everything they need to know about stuff like that. I have no doubt if they saw an EPO and the room on fire they'd hit it immediately, why not, as you say it can only make things safer (plus or minus emergency lighting working but they should have their own.) But unless there was an explosion hazard I don't remember there being much concern. Water pressure and getting the equipment positioned and working was a concern (after life and limb of course.) Put another way: Between a 120KVA UPS and a gang of experienced firefighters with charged hoses I'd put my money on the firefighters every time. -- -Barry Shein The World | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 800-THE-WRLD | Login: Nationwide Software Tool & Die | Public Access Internet | SINCE 1989 *oo*