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There is a history of fatalities that have occurred in vehicular tunnels. Fires that occur within the tunnels represent an immediate and extreme danger to life and property using the route. The damage that can be caused from a single collision between a truck and a passenger vehicle results in the loss of life and millions of dollars of damage to the structure of the tunnel. Historical fires that have occurred involved simple mechanical or electrical problems with buses, trucks or regular passenger vehicles. Often these fires could burn out of control for several hours or even days. Many tunnels are of long distances and a potential fire that expands to a certain size can create smoke that can easily overwhelm passengers that are trying to escape.
The migration of the smoke exiting from the tunnel is often faster than the capability of the passengers to escape. Some of the worst fires that have ever occurred include the Caldecott Tunnel Fire in 1982 (San Francisco, US), the St-Gothard Fire in 2001 (Switzerland) and the Mont-Blanc Fire in 1999 (France). Two of these fires resulted from simple mechanical failures and two of them burned for more than 48 hours causing severe damage and loss of life.
Through various studies and fire tests that have occurred, it has been concluded that water mist offers advantages over other forms of fire systems including:
The SECURIPLEX LLC FIRE-SCOPE® 5000 high pressure water mist system is the solution to some of the devastating threats that these kinds of fires pose. Through a combined system consisting of “zone” total flooding in addition to strategic placement of nozzles for local application areas, we can reduce the risk of fires continuing to burn for long periods of time reducing the likelihood of fatalities and damage to the tunnel. We have a proven track record in innovation, design and engineering which has led to the fastest extinguishment times in the industry. We can provide complete engineering solutions including detection, manual activation devices, pump control, annunciator systems, installation, etc. We have proven experience in applications and have designed detection for the Euro-tunnel. Our technology has been the subject of design studies and analysis for the use of water mist systems in these applications.
Our team of engineers and specialists will work with you to design the most cost effective solution that is easy to install be it electric driven version, a self-contained system or a hybrid system.
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