As for the new devices, a mix of pull stations, smoke detectors and heat detectors were utilized, with 75 of these initiating devices needed for each elementary school and nearly 200 for the middle and high school facilities. The 12 schools are also covered by a full scope of new notification appliances, including strobes, horn/strobes and speaker/strobes.
“It was a pretty straightforward swap out, part for part,” relates White. “It was simple to program and very understandable, not to mention the fact that it’s a very rugged and reliable system.”
Cheatham was also pleased with the speed of the installation.
“We did all 12 schools in just 10 weeks,” reports Dority. “We were literally done in next to no time and each building was only down for four days at the most.”
So far, the schools have found the new system incredibly simple to use. Service calls have decreased from two or three a week, to possibly one per month for mostly non-system related issues, such as a student hitting a horn/strobe with a ball.
“If a principal calls and tells me there is an issue, they already have an idea of what’s going on before I get on-site. Sometimes we can even solve the issue over the phone,” says Dority.
Likewise, the maintenance staff can easily re-set the pull stations with a key, as opposed to tracking down a specialized Allen wrench or other tool.
In the near future, Cheatham County plans to either expand a current facility or build a new high school and Fire-Lite systems appear to be their undisputed choice for fire protection.
“We will be sticking with the Fire-Lite panels not only for the sake of standardization, but it’s been such a good deal so far,” relates Dority. “I can’t see any reason whatsoever to move away from it in the future.”
According to White, it is not just disgruntled school districts like Cheatham who are opting for Fire-Lite systems.
“There’s a growing interest in non-proprietary systems and Fire-Lite is one of the only non-proprietary technologies that meet the needs of facilities who are used to having a proprietary engineered system,” he explains.
Consequently, White is witnessing an uptick in non-proprietary fire alarm installations in all markets, including commercial, medical, retail and industrial.
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