Fire Alarm Systems on the LU network

I believe that the stations are seperate in terms of intergration. The fire alarms are just linked to the control room. I think (SS Stig / Tubeboy etc, will confirm or deny) that after one call point is activated, an alarm sounds in the Control Room, for obvious reasons (and if not reset within a certain time, the evac is initiated?). After two, the system goes into full evac mode - auto announcement plays asking passengers to leave the station, and the ticket gates automatically open.
I'm no means the expert, and could well be wrong, just so you know.

I too believe the stations are separate.

As Joe said, when a fire alarm call point is activated, it sends a signal to the MFCP [Main fire control panel] Now if the alarm originated in a "secure room" ie CER [computer equipment room] or an SER [Signal equipment room] the panel would go into Evacuation mode [Broadcast message would be "Due to a reported emergency, can all passengers please leave the station immediately"

If the alarm did not originate from a secure room, Ie a passageway/platform, then the "Inspector Sands" message will come out over the PA, which goes "Will Inspector Sands please go to the operations room immediately"

If the Inspector Sands message is activated, the MFCP has to be reset within TWO minutes, otherwise it will automatically go into evacuation mode. Assuming it has been reset within the two minutes, the offending call point must be reset within FIVE minutes [so SEVEN minutes in total] Now clearly, the call point will only be reset, if there is no fire/smoke in that area.

To aid which call point has been activated, a visual display will tell you, along with a written paper printout. This will tell which loop and device number the call point is [Each call point has an ID on them so you know which call point to reset] It is possible for a member of staff to panic and reset the wrong call point [They can be activated and reset with a key] thereby activating it. If a call point goes off, and the one wrong one is reset [again it is activated] the MFCP will go into evacuation mode.

As can be seen the PA system is crucial in aiding fire safety, if a station has partial/complete loss of PA, then staff have to be put in areas where there is no PA, so that passengers could escape in the event of fire/smoke. Staff would know of a fire alert via the radio/autophone.

Just to add, when the panel does go into evacuation, the ticket gates will open. The MFCP is usually located in either the Control room, Supervisor's office or ticket hall.

Stations do have fire sounders as well as smoke detectors.

Fire sounders are usually in a noisy place [machine chambers] and there are smoke detectors in most rooms

Indeed! ;D

Some staff panic and instead of resetting them, rip them off the wall...I am struggling with the giggles at the minute! ;D

Re Evac and secure rooms, I was led to believe it auto evacs, will ask Quinns [Fire engineers] next time they come in.

Also there is no section 12, its surface or sub-surface! ;D

I believe its up to the panel whether it is on auto-evac or not. I'm guessing LU would not dream of having this due to disturbing the quality of service, if a false alarm.

Yes / No

The panel will go straight into EVAC mode if two devices are activated. Or if the 2 min or 5 min time limits timeout. I was alsways told that 1 device in a secure room would not automatically put the panel into EVAC - but as staff couldn't investigate a secure room means it's pointless waiting the 5 mins and you might as well evacuate straight away.

However LU staff are also instructed to evacuate if they receive two notices of fire/ smoke.

So a call point being activated AND a customer telling staff smoke/ fire in an area. Plus if instructed to evacuate the station by a senior fire officer.

In both these circumstances staff would manually need to put the fire panel into evac mode.

Or just pull two call points .

Not if a second call point is closer than the panel (e.g. you're on the platforms) and you can't contact someone who is...

Let's not make up procedures here!

LUL has had proper procedures in place for many years now - and when were talking about the call point system (ok, fire alarm to Joe Public), it is extremely important that all staff 'sing from the same song sheet'.

First, and most important, the SS (Station Supervisor) is Legally in charge of a given station. There may be a Station Control room, with an SACR (or whatever acronym it is this week) - a Station Assistant Control Room. The SACR is the Station Supervisors 'right hand man', and they're trained in the use of the FCP (Fire Control Panel); they do not however have the power to make any decisions on it's use - that responsibility rests only with the Station Supervisor (again, the station is the SS's Legal responsibility).

It is not up to any other member of staff to go round hitting call points (the red boxes) just to set off an evacuation message because the station is a little overcrowded etc. If the SS decides to evacuate a station and it is not an emergency (ie, fire), and feels that using the FCP (Fire Control Panel) will be the best way to achieve that aim, they must do it manually using the FCP.

It goes without saying that if a member of staff, investigating a single call point activation, becomes aware that a real emergency (ie, fire) is happening [by sight or verbally from a customer] - they then activate the next nearest call point (thereby causing the FCP to go into evacuate mode)..........then they must update the SS without delay.

As has been explained already, certain rooms or chain of events (ie, two call points activated) will automatically determine what action the FCP takes. This action cannot initially be overridden, although the Inspector Sands message can be silenced whilst the source of activation is investigated. The source of activation, such as a call point, smoke detector in a machine room, etc must be reset before the FCP is reset - otherwise the cycle of the FCP going off will continue.

One final point - every single station has a plan of it's layout, with relevant information such as the type of room, it's number and what's in it, etc. This plan is inside a white box with "LFB" in red letters............it will be found attached to an external wall at the designated RVP point for emergency services (there may be a second box if there is a secondary RVP point).

The whole fire procedure currently in use on LUL came about as a direct result of the Hidden report on the Kings Cross fire in November 1987 - the lesson was harsh, but believe me, it was definitely learned.

The Fire Detection system on LU is quite sophisticated, divided into zones using different types of detection as appropriate to the area under surveillance. Each zone comprises one or more loops and each loop has a number of devices which are all individually addressable by the system. Apart from the special smoke detectors used to detect smoke in particular areas of stations most smoke detectors were replaced by heat detectors which are superior and provide more reliable detection.
The detection system is integrated with the fire suppression system, which includes such things as pre-action sprinklers (PAS) and water fog systems (which replaced the original halon systems in equipment rooms), the PA system emergency digital voice announcer (EDVA), the UTS gates and those signs seen outside stations, emergency do not enter signs (EDNE). At some sites it may now also be integrated with the CCTV system but I have had little to do with LU's fire systems for more than 10 years now.

There certainly once was a plan to link all the fire panels back to a Fire Services Engineer's Control Centre but I believe that this was more about remote system maintenance than fire detection although remote fire detection would've been a side effect. At the end of the day, as has been already stated, responsibility for taking action as a result of a fire alert lies with the station supervisor and as it is necessary to physically inspect and test every device on every loop at every site regularly the need for a remote control centre is somewhat obviated.